Crazy Cranmers

Conversations with Aiden

2011-10-21T14:08:00.004-06:00

Not a day passes that something interesting or funny doesn't come out of Aiden's mouth! He is getting so smart and I can just see the little wheels in his brain turning as he figures things out.

Here are a few of the conversations we have had with Aiden in the last few months:

Aiden was in his car seat and yelled for our cousin Karen to come say "hi" through the car window.
Karen: Hi, Aiden! Are you ticklish?
Aiden: Mom, can you close my window please?

Me: Aiden, I need you to get your flip-flops on before you go outside.
Aiden: Yes, your highness.

Bryce: Aiden, I would like to watch a movie with my son.
Aiden: OK! Can I wait with you until he gets here?

Our internet shut off for a minute, so Aiden's PBS game turned off as well. When I got it back up, Aiden exclaimed "Oh mom! I'm so proud of you!"

In the car, I revved the engine to pass a slower car and I hear Aiden in the back seat:
"Now THATS what I'm talking about!"

Aiden: Dad, you're the kind of guy who can accomplish anything.

Aiden: Oh mom! I just dropped my stupid lemonade!
Me: Aiden, we do not say stupid in this house.
Aiden: OK mom. I will just go outside and say it.

Bryce: Aiden, what did you do today?
Me: We made banana bread and Aiden was a big helper by staying out of mommy's way :)
Aiden: Dad, where is Mommy's way?

I was telling Bryce that Aiden had been riding his bike up and down the street that day, and our next door neighbor came flying out her front door to make sure someone was watching him. Aiden's eyes got suddenly wide and he says "Mom! I didn't know she could FLY!"

Me: (to Aiden) Hey honey, what do you want to do today?
Aiden: (with a blank stare) Am I honey?
Me: Yes!
Aiden: Mom, I already talked to you about this. My name is AIDEN, not honey.

It was getting close to bed time and I was trying to get Aiden to relax before he went to sleep.
Me: Aiden, you can either watch your cartoon or go to bed.
Aiden: Mom, I can either watch my cartoon, go to bed or play the ipad... I think I'll play the ipad. Thanks mom!

We love our little ball of energy!

I love my little munchkins!

2011-10-21T14:03:00.008-06:00

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-21T13:42:00.015-06:00

We took a family outing to Staheli Farms to pick out some pumpkins. We only did the farm pass, which includes a petting zoo, kids play area, and a hay ride to the pumpkin patch, but they also have a haunted house, corn maze, and lots more! It was very fun.

Aiden watching the pig race...

and racing rubber duckies.

Daddy and Gracie :)

On the hayride out to the pumpkin patch.

At the pumpkin patch. There was a SMALL selection and we didn't find any pumpkins that we loved. Maybe next year.

Gracie riding the rocking horse.

Aiden was SO brave to try the rope swing!

And he loved it!!

Our Little Pumpkin Turned One!!

2011-10-19T13:01:00.018-06:00

We can hardly believe one year has gone by since we had our little Gracie Lyn. She is such a sweetheart and brings so much laughter and love into our home.

We're not really sure when this sweet baby...

turned into this sweet baby.

Time has just gone by so fast! Here are some fun things that Gracie is doing at one years old:

She can say mama, dada, Aiden, Boo, and More.
She likes to hum and sing to herself when she's playing with her toys.
She can stand up unassisted, and can walk if she has something stable to hold on to.
She can sign more, wave bye-bye and hi, and blows kisses.
She LOVES her brother and laughs and giggles whenever she see's him.
She loves her stuffed monkey and gives him kisses every day.
She is a goofball. She has a cheezy smile and laughs and giggles all day long at everyone she sees.
She unloads the DVD case every. day. all. day. long.
She points her pointer fingers at her daddy- and only her daddy. It's their "thing".
She enjoys crackers, applesauce, cheerios, pretzels, and all fruits and veggies.
She takes a 4 hour nap every day and sleeps all night.
She is the sweetest, cutest, and most cuddly baby ever and we love her to pieces!

We had a little birthday party for her on her birthday. We invited a few friends over and had a great time!

We had a Halloween Pumpkin theme:

We decorated pumpkin cookies:

The happy Birthday girl!

She loved unwrapping her presents:

I think Aiden was more excited about the blanket I made her:

The "finger point". Can you guess who's taking the pictures? :)

Our birthday friends:

Gracie's "little pumpkin" cake:

"Happy Birthday to you..."

She wasn't sure what to think of her birthday cupcake...

...until she took a bite. Then she loved it!

"I had a GREAT Birthday! I love being 1!"

We've Moved!

2011-06-15T13:28:00.002-06:00

We recently moved down to sunny St. George and love it here!

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission...

2011-06-10T19:59:00.027-06:00

My sweet parents have gone to serve as Mission Presidents for 3 years in the New Zealand, Wellington Mission.

We had the entire family together for one last weekend of family events and their farewell.

And we were lucky enough to have baby D come a week before my parents left so we could all cuddle him!

We attended my parents farewell on Sunday, spent some time together as a family and said our goodbyes! As Mission Presidents, my parents are able to communicate with us through email, phone, and skype while in the mission field, so that made it a little easier to say goodbye :)

Grandma and Grandpa with all the grand kids. Sweet Jocie wouldn't look at the camera until we told everyone to be silly...

Two of my sister's and their families:

My parent's with our family friend's- a family my dad baptized on his mission:

My dad's former bishop presented them with the original doorknob to the Salt Lake Temple. His construction company replaced the doors of the Temple years ago and he was able to keep the doorknobs, one of which he gave to my parents.

We already miss mom and dad, but know they are exactly where they are supposed to be.

Parks and Rec

2011-06-05T13:31:00.001-06:00

My kids LOVE going to parks, and since moving to St. George there are a TON to choose from close to our house.

This is the "Palm Tree" park:

Gracie seems SO enthralled :)

And this is the "Water Wheel" park:

Silly Gracie- she has VERY animated feet, just like her mom and grandma.

We are a Happy Family

2011-06-04T19:50:00.006-06:00

Silly Kids

2011-05-27T19:46:00.004-06:00

I absolutely love this picture because we have a pic of Aiden doing the exact. same. thing. They somehow get themselves backed up under the couch and get stuck. You can see the anxiety on her face...

And here is our son, the contortionist.

And here is Gracie trying to get up on her hands and knees. It's only a matter of time before she starts crawling...

Training Wheels

2011-05-27T19:40:00.006-06:00

Here we are, back at the waterwheel park, but this time we left the tricycle at home...

We can't believe how OLD he looks when riding his bike! He's all grown up :)

Little Gracie

2011-05-18T21:00:00.010-06:00

Our sweet little Gracie is growing up so fast! Her fun personality is starting to shine through and we love her more and more every day!

She is sitting up really well and starting to do so many fun things! I forgot how much I love the "little" stage because they learn something new every day.

She is very observant and is curious about everything. She's not crawling yet, but she wants to!

Gracie LOVES her brother and always wants to do what he does and be where he is.

I asked Aiden to sit by Gracie so I could get a cute picture of the two of them, and after 1 minute, I realized it wasn't happening. Upon further observation, I caught a perfect narrative of the daily interaction between these two:

I'm gonna get you!

What? You turning your back on me?!

Aiden: Mom, seriously- are you done yet?

I'm so funny!

Summer Stuff

2011-05-14T20:43:00.001-06:00

Our weather is SO nice here in May, so we spend a LOT of time outside enjoying this beautiful weather while it lasts.

We keep a stock of otter pops at all times. Seriously.

And who wouldn't love this chub? Don't you just want to squeeze her?! I do. Every day.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

2011-05-07T13:49:00.006-06:00

We Love our Daddy!

We treated him to dinner at our new favorite steak place, ate spice cake, opened presents and watched Tron. Perfect day.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T22:34:00.023-06:00

Easter was so fun this year because Aiden knew all about the Easter Bunny and couldn't wait for him to visit our house. He tried hard to be extra good for weeks before Easter so the Easter Bunny was sure to stop by.

He found lots of healthy treats and prizes in his Easter Basket Sunday morning:

Easter Sunday before church:

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Easter dinner. The Easter Bunny made a special trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house so Aiden and his cousin, Livi, could do an Easter egg hunt together. When they heard the Easter Bunny stopped by, they came running- baskets in hand!

Little Gracie with her sweet Grandma:

And Gracie with my sweet Grandma:

Gracie wasn't so sure about the swing...

Then she lightened up.

Happy Easter!

Gracie's First Rice Cereal

2011-04-16T22:32:00.002-06:00

She wasn't quite sure what to think...

Keepin' Busy!

2011-03-30T21:31:00.004-06:00

In an effort to use up some of Aiden's seemingly endless supply of energy, as well as to develop his flexibility and fearlessness, we signed him up for swim lessons and gymnastics class.

He has done SO well in both and we are so proud of him. He loves going and has made lots of good friends.

Aiden has been extremely flexible since birth, so gymnastics seemed like the most obvious activity for him participate in at his age.

Months ago, we were watching the new Karate Kid and turned around to see Aiden full-on doing the splits! Then he started kicking and punching in the air. It was crazy how fast he was and how closely he imitated every move. We can't wait for him to turn 6 so we can get him into karate.

My Sweet Family

2011-03-11T22:09:00.007-07:00

Fun in the Snow

2011-03-09T22:34:00.006-07:00

We got buckets of snow at our house recently! Seriously? Snow in March? I sent Bryce and Aiden out to shovel the driveway, and 30 minutes later, they had built 4 snow forts, a snowman, and a sledding hill. I love that they have so much fun together. Two peas in a pod.

Love

2011-03-09T22:24:00.008-07:00

I Love these chubby cheeks. I squeeze them every day.

I also love...

Wellington, New Zealand

2011-03-09T22:09:00.008-07:00

I have been debating whether or not I wanted to post this on my blog, but we have so many friends that we rarely see that I would love to share this with.

My parents have been called to serve as LDS Mission Presidents in the Wellington, New Zealand Mission! They leave in July and will be gone 3 years. We couldn't be more excited for them. They have always been the most wonderful exemplars of service, charity, and love, and are the most wonderful parents we could ask for. Of course we will all miss them like crazy, but also know that this is where they are supposed to be.

Here are my sweet parents with their 3 out of 6 grandkids, right before they opened their call.

My dad had my mom open the call, since he served a mission and had already had the experience of opening one.

Silly Pants

2011-03-09T21:50:00.010-07:00

Aiden has a new 'thing' where he wants to wear his pajamas. all. the. time! I turn around for a minute and they magically appear on his body. It's like those kids you see at the mall wearing their Superman cape. You know their mom is thinking "Seriously, as long as he's happy, he can wear whatever he wants." That has been our mentality.

The other day, I could sense he was putting on his pajamas, as he said he was going to the bathroom and it had been over a minute. He came out wearing this lovely ensemble. I'm not even sure how many layers of pajamas he has on, not to mention his p.j. top that is on backwards. It makes me smile.

We signed Aiden up for swimming lessons, as well as a gymnastics class. Our local Parks and Rec center offer both classes for 3 years old and up so we jumped on it as soon as we found out. I love that the classes teach coordination, balance, organization, learning to follow orders, taking turns, etc. So many life lessons. And Aiden LOVES both classes. If you bring them up, he will tell you everything he did that day. It's very cute.

Last week, I told Aiden to get ready for swim class. Obediently, he went into his room to change. Only, he came walking to the door, wearing this interesting, but very Aiden-esque ensemble. Pajama top, swim shorts, and Spiderman slippers.

"I'm ready for swim class, mom!"

Conversations with Aiden

2011-02-19T16:43:00.005-07:00

We have been getting a kick out of Aiden lately! He is such a funny little guy, and always has been. Here are a few conversations we have had with our little man as of late:

Mommy: Aiden, I can’t believe you are 3!

Aiden: Ya.

M: How old is mommy?

A: I don’t know mom. You are just old.

Baby Gracie was crying in the car and Aiden says: Mom, she crying ‘cuz she doesn’t like Frank (I was listening to Sinatra). You need to turn it off!

A: Mom, you’re my best lucky day.

M: Aiden, how fast can you climb those stairs to the top of the green slide?
A: Mom, I can’t go fast. It’s too dangerous. I need to SLOW DOWN (said very slowly).

Gracie got sick a few weeks after Aiden had gone to the doctor for his 3 year check-up and shots. So, when I took her to the doctor and they called her name, Aiden yells “Nooooooooo! She not going! Nooooooo!”

Aiden was all tucked in his bed when he noticed George, his bear, on the other side of the room and said, “Oh man! I forgot my wings to fly to go get George. Hmph.”

We turned on the t.v. to see that ‘Minute-to-win-it” was on and Aiden exclaims: Oh! My show is on!!!

M: Aiden, what do you want for lunch?

A: Hmmm…. A hungry, hungry hippo.

Aiden drew a large oval on a piece of paper. A: Mom, what’s that?

M: An oval.

A: No, mom. It’s a racetrack (accompanied by an eye roll).

After drinking a carbonated fruit drink sample at Costco, Aiden exclaimed: Wow! This drink is spiky!

He's such a character. And very creative. After finding a stack of paper cups, he had his dad help him create this monstrosity (reference his previously stated favorite show):

He got a sweet set of blocks from grandma and grandpa for Christmas and spends hours every day building shooters, robots and anything he can come up with:

And here he is, my little Sunbeam, all ready for Church:

Baby Shots

2011-02-19T16:34:00.006-07:00

I always hate when my kids have to get shots, though I would never consider skipping out on them. Gracie got her 4 month shots yesterday, and here is how she felt afterwards:

Its a good thing she has a sweet older brother that loves to cuddle her,

and poke and tease her :)

I love that Gracie is still chubby! Aiden was never a chubby baby,

so we are very much enjoying this:

Cute Faces

2011-02-08T20:30:00.002-07:00

I love seeing these faces. every. day.

Is she 3 months already? Sheesh!

2011-01-24T19:54:00.012-07:00

I can't believe this girl is already 3 months! She's such a smiley, happy baby that time just flies.

I never want to forget these feet and hands- how she curls her toes up just like her mommy, and how she is always staring at her long fingers.

I love the relationship between my kids. The already have a special kind of bond.

And yes, there are toys scattered all over my floor and I am perfectly fine with it! We had a lesson in RS and someone made the comment about how quickly our children grow up and move on. I am in shock at how quickly Aiden has already made it to 3 and Gracie to 3 months. Really. It goes by too quickly. I usually stress about every little detail in my home. And not that my OCD-ness will go away, but I find that when there are blocks, shooters, cars, and puzzles scattered around my living room, Aiden is happy and plays more with his toys instead of wanting to watch t.v. And if Aiden is happy, mommy is happy. I have resolved to love a happy mess.

The Kiddos

2011-01-19T23:07:00.004-07:00

I love, love, love being a mommy!

I love this picture of Gracie. She always spits out her binkie and it looks like it is coming out of her ear.

And Aiden with his shooter. We got three of these for Christmas and Bryce, Aiden and I have shooting wars around the house. I find these styrofoam darts in the strangest places!

And this movie makes me laugh every time I watch it. Enjoy.

Gracie's Blessing

2011-01-19T22:58:00.008-07:00

We blessed Gracie on Jan 2. Our niece, Kaitlyn, was baptized the day before so we were able to have most of Bryce's family present for the blessing, as well as my family who came up from Orem. It was a very special day, as was the day of Aiden's blessing. It makes me even more grateful for the blessings of the gospel and for the importance of families.

Happy Holidays

2011-01-19T22:27:00.015-07:00

We have started a few Christmas traditions as a family. Every Christmas Eve, we open a family Christmas book as well as ornaments for each of the kids.

Bryce reading Aiden our new Christmas book: Llama, Llama, Holiday Drama.

Nicki and Todd came up for Christmas dinner and got a Christmas book from us.

Christmas ornaments from mom and dad.

Our cute kiddos. Aiden was SO excited for Santa to come. We loved re-living the excitement of Christmas through Aiden this year.

And here is us on Christmas morning! Bryce and I were more excited to see Aiden open his gifts than we were to open ours. It's so fun to see the excitement on his little face. Gracie slept most of the morning, but she will be just as fun to watch in a year or two!

We went down for Christmas dinner and to open presents at Grandma and Grandpa Kezerians. Grandpa took Aiden out on his new toy. Aiden actually enjoyed himself, despite the look on his face!

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Birthday Boy

2011-01-17T16:16:00.014-07:00

Aiden, we can't believe you are 3 years old! It seems like last week we were bringing you home from the hospital, with no idea what we had gotten ourselves into!

You are a sweetheart, always sharing and saying please and thank you. You call anyone under the age of 10 your friend, even if you've never met. You love to laugh, to be tickled, to be chased, and to wrestle with daddy after work. You love anything related to Buzz Lightyear, trains, cars, and balls.

You know your alphabet. You like to count. You constantly ask "why?" You love to read books in bed with mommy at night.

You are an entertainer and a show-off, and we love you!

Aiden turned 3 on Christmas Eve. The week before his b-day, we had a friend party at Chuck-E-Cheese and he had the time of his life! He played just about every game there, met Chuck-E himself, along with Santa!

Aiden was excited to see Santa, but kept his distance. He did allow Santa to play cars with him, though, and told him he wanted a shooter for Christmas.

On his actual birthday, Bryce and I took him to a bounce house. Aiden couldn't keep the smile off his face. I stayed with Gracie while Bryce and Aiden jumped their hearts out. It was so fun to see them jumping and laughing together.

This is what Gracie did the whole time. Doesn't she look like she's saying "You may kiss my hands." Silly girl.

We heart the snow!

2011-01-17T15:57:00.009-07:00

We have had a great winter here in SLC! Everyone complains about how much they hate the snow, but we LoVe it!

And here are our holiday festivities:

Aiden made a Rice Crispies Turkey, which was eaten shortly after this picture was taken :)

And my sweet kids in front of the Christmas tree:

We are a happy Family

2011-01-17T15:45:00.006-07:00

I want to sew a blanket for each of my babies for them to keep as their baby blanket. I finished this one months before Gracie was born (instead of just days with Aidens). I absolutely loved making it and am so happy with the way it turned out.

Here are a few random pics of my cute fam:

Happy Halloween!

2011-01-17T15:42:00.002-07:00

We had a great Halloween this year, mostly because Aiden was so excited about it. He talked about trick-or-treating every day and was so excited to wear his costume.

We had my sis Nicki and her hubby Todd over for dinner and to carve pumpkins on Halloween. Aiden has a book about "The Biggest Pumpkin Ever", so he was really into the pumpkin carving.

Aiden had been talking about being Buzz Lightyear for Halloween for months. But when the time came to pick out a costume, he wouldn't have anything but the Incredibles. Everyone loved his costume, especially since he and Dash have so much in common! It was pouring rain out, but that didn't stop Aiden from hitting up quite a few houses. And since not many kids were out, everyone loaded him up on the candy.

Four Generations

2011-01-17T15:17:00.011-07:00

I love having my family so close to us now! My parents brought my grandparents up to see Gracie shortly after she was born.

This is my 4-generation picture: Grandma Peterson, Mom, Gracie and me. I love this picture.

My sweet grandparents meeting Gracie for the first time.

My mom with Gracie.

Our good friends, the Vests, also came up that day. We are determined to be in-laws, and since we now have a girl, Gracie has her choice of 1 of 3 vest boys. Here is Gracie with the newest Vest, Eli. He's a month older than Gracie.

Life

2011-01-17T15:17:00.010-07:00

Yes, we are still alive! Just getting back into the swing of things after Gracie's birth and the busy holiday season!

We are absolutely LOVING having Gracie in our home. She is the sweetest, calmest, and happiest baby ever. She is very observant and wants to be a part of everything. She is sleeping 8 hours at night, along with a 4 hour nap during the day, 2 hours of which Aiden joins her. I am one happy mama!

Though Aiden mostly ignores Gracie, he is very sweet with her and gets very concerned when she cries. He is the first to run to her and stick a binki in her mouth when he hears a peep. He gives her lots of kisses and calls her Gracie Girl.

Though I make it sound like a magical experience, it has been a little rough! I like being able to get out of the house and run errands, or even join my friends for lunch or a movie, but that's not always possible with two kids! I have to remind myself of when I was in grad school a few short months ago, and after being away from Aiden a couple of hours during the day, the only thing I could think about was being home with him and Bryce. I am so grateful that I can be a stay-at-home mom, and that I am blessed with two sweet children!

Here are some pics from our stay at the hospital.

Our first family photo

My mom and sister, Brittney.

Gracie's first bath. She hated every second of it.

Gracie with her handsome daddy. We were laughing today as we looked at pictures of Aiden as a baby. We looked absolutely exhausted in all of our first few days of pictures! We must have figured it out the second time around because we look pretty well rested.

Mommy and baby. I love this little bundle.

She's Here!

2010-10-31T15:00:00.005-06:00

Gracie Lyn Cranmer

Born 10/18/10 at 10:35 PM

9 lbs and 22 in.

We are so glad she is finally here and that labor and delivery went so smoothly. We couldn't love her more!

I started having contractions at about 3:30 on the 18th, and checked into the hospital by 5. At 6:15, they gave me my epidural and a dose of penicilin because I tested positive for the strep b virus. By 7, they gave me petosin, to speed things up, and broke my water. At this point, I was only at a 4, so we thought we were in for a long night. Two women came in ready to deliver, so the doctor and staff were very busy and only checked to see if I was feeling ok, not for dialation, until 9:00. The nurse about fell over when she found I was at a 10! The problem was, the penicilin needed to be in my system for 4 hours before delivery. So, I had to resist the very strong urge to push until at least 10:15! A few times, I thought the baby was just going to fall out! But, we made it. At 10:30, my doctor, two nurses, and the nursery staff set up, I pushed 3 or 4 times, and out came baby! She was practically crowning by the time we were ready. It was such a contrast to my two hours of pushing with Aiden, that Bryce and I looked at eachother like "thats it?"

She came out perfect and healthy, and though she was a bit yellow, we didnt have to use the Bili-bed for jaundice. Yay! Since then, she has been an angel baby. From day 4, she has slept for two- 4 hour shifts at night and 3 hour shifts during the day. I dont know how we got so lucky.

Aiden has loved having her around, though the first week was rough because everything was about "the baby." But, we made it through and are back to our regular routine. He always asks to hold her, throws away her dirty diapers, and whenever she cries, he says "you're ok, sweetie." Its very cute.

Having two kiddos is no easy task, but its totally worth it.

Its a....

2010-06-21T16:06:00.005-06:00

Yes, its a girl! I have been so certain its was a boy, but couldn't be happier for a girl. Now we will have one of each! Whenever we asked Aiden if he was getting a brother or a sister, he would say sister. And he was right! Its amazing how much kids actually know.

I have been feeling awesome during this pregnancy and can't wait for Aiden to get a new sister in a few months. Let the shopping begin!

Its Official!

2010-06-21T15:54:00.005-06:00

I officially graduated from Boise State University with my masters! Although I graduated over a month ago, I got my diploma in the mail today. That makes it feel real! I have a bunch of cute graduation pics, but they are currently in Disneyland with my little sis. So, more to come.

For those who haven't heard, we have moved back to Utah! Bryce got a new job in SLC and we moved right after graduation in May. It has been a crazy few weeks and we are sad to leave our friends and our home in Boise, but we are loving being back in Utah close to most of our family and friends. We are also loving everything there is to do in Salt Lake! Aiden and I spend most of our days at the park- sliding, swinging, and feeding the ducks.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2010-05-07T20:05:00.004-06:00

You make life exciting! Happy 31st Daddy. We love you!

One trimester down...

2010-04-05T20:24:00.005-06:00

Yep, you guessed it. We are finally expecting! Our little gummy bear is due October 19 and we couldn't be more excited! (We are hoping the baby comes early so the birthdate will be 10/10/10!) Aiden even seems to be happy about it- he tells the baby "I'm brother Aiden!"

Unlike our experience with Aiden, it has taken us a while to get pregnant. We actually experienced an early miscarriage in September, and since then, it was either the stress of school, my anxiousness to get pregnant, or Heavenly Father telling us the time wasn't right, but things didn't work out according to my plan. Imagine that! But, now that I have experienced more sickness than I ever did with Aiden, I am grateful things worked out the way they did! If I were this sick back in August, I would have REALLY struggled to make it through that tough semester. Not to mention being in my third trimester trying to make it through my grad recital. I barely made it through being only 10 weeks along!

We had our first OB apt at 8 weeks and saw the baby and its little heartbeat on the ultrasound. It is an absolute miracle. My doctor assured us that everything looks perfectly healthy and normal, with everything in its place, which was a huge relief for us considering the miscarriage. We are now 12 weeks along, still sick and exhausted, but happy as can be. We have been incredibly blessed and can't wait for the little munchkin to get here!

Any guesses on what we will have?

Graduate Recital

2010-04-05T19:10:00.008-06:00

I performed my graduate recital last Saturday and it went better than I expected! I had been practicing performing the entire hour all the way through, and it always wore me out by the end. Good thing my adrenaline kicked in at the performance! Of course, there were mistakes I had never made before, but I expected that to happen. But overall, I had 3-4 spots that have always given me trouble and I nailed them. So if anything, I am happy about that!

We had a lot of family that came to support me and it was wonderful having them around! I loved seeing their faces in the audience.

It's amazing to me how fast these past two years have flown by. I remember my first day thinking "I'm never going to finish! Two years is such a long time!" And here I am, within 6 weeks of graduating. It's very gratifying. It feels strange, though, being done with my recital. I feel like I still need to practice my pieces every time I sit down at the piano.

My 'relief' hug!

My professor, Del Parkinson, and the reason I came to Boise State. He is such an excellent teacher!

Taken after my recital. Not a care in the world!

The whole gang. Thanks again for coming guys!

Now it's time to study for the completion of my degree- my written and oral exams! Aaahhhh! Wish me luck. I'm going to need it!

Springtime is Here!

2010-03-21T15:47:00.004-06:00

It has been SO nice here in Boise the past few days. The sun is out, but there is a cool breeze. It is perfect. Aiden has been enjoying himself and spending extra time outside.

We love water-painting the cement. It provides hours of entertainment.

And who doesn't love twin-pops?

I'm a Big Boy Now!

2010-03-21T15:38:00.004-06:00

My little Aiden is not so little any more. He moved into a big-boy bed this week! He has been escaping from his crib, and when he bit his lip on the way down we knew it was time for the switch. Much to our surprise, he has taken to his bed fabulously! Though, he does come running into our room every morning, jumps into our bed, making himself at home on my pillow, then tells me to get my glasses on so I can get him some cereal. Such is life. I just don't like to admit that he is actually growing up and I can't do a thing to stop it.

Here he is eating breakfast- he picked out the dinosaur shirt, put on his own hat, and ate his cereal with only a few drips of milk. He looks so old! He has since learned to put on his own socks.

Happy Birthday!

2010-03-04T11:54:00.004-07:00

Happy Birthday STACEY/MOMMY!!

We LOVE YOU!!

jffffffffffffffffffffffffhfgjfjfjmmddemnngvdmkdejdnfvnfnehejdfhggnnvnbv

(Aiden says happy birthday too.)

Life

2010-02-11T16:00:00.004-07:00

We're back! We took a hiatus from blogging because our computer crashed and our back-up drive broke! Thank goodness for the Mac store who recovered a majority of our pictures, music, and other files, though they are all numbered from 1 to like a million and we are having to sort through them all. I am just grateful to have them!

In other news, we are all doing awesome. Aiden is growing like a week and saying the funniest things. He has become very independent- he sits at the table just like Bryce and me, doesn't want any help eating, insists on pushing a chair to the counter so he can see everything we are doing, can ride his trike (well, sometimes he doesn't use the pedals, but is very speedy), and is a big helper when he wants to be. We love him like crazy. His new favorite movie character is Lightning mcQUEEN (it gets louder at the end) and he talks about him frequently. Every car we pass is Lightning McQueen.

Aiden wanted to reach the fan, so he stood on a box and reached on his tip-toes.

As I am in my last semester, things are CRAZY! I have a concerto competition next week, my pre-recital hearing in two weeks, and as long as I pass, I will have my grad recital on March 27th. You are all invited! I feel really prepared and just want to do well and finally be done. I have loved the opportunity to go back to school and feel very blessed to have done so, but I look forward to being a full-time mom and wife. I have less than 3 months to go! I can't believe it. All this for a piece of paper that says I'm good at playing the piano. Geesh. Bryce could have done that for me.

Growing Up

2010-01-14T09:31:00.009-07:00

Aiden has been saying and doing some pretty funny things lately.

For the past few days, Aiden has been wanting to watch "Cowboy", also known as Toy Story. He loves it. This pic is a very concerned boy when in Toy Story 2, Andy drops Woody because of a split seam. It was very traumatic.

We got this hat for Aiden LAST year, when it actually fit his head. But, he loves it and wears it around the house and in public. No shame. The best was when I went in to check on him in bed two nights ago to see that he had smuggled the hat in, put it on his head, and fell asleep with it on (Notice how its on side-ways! Even better).

Two days ago, I was having a rough day so I went shopping and bought a couple shirts. I brought them home and tried them on. Aiden walked in and said "Oh, WOW! I yike it Mommy! I yike it!" (I like it!). Made my day.

And last night, at 8:00, Aiden stood up and said "Night Night, Mommy. Bye bye, Daddy." And walked himself up to bed. I followed just to lift him in his crib. He asked me to sing him "I am a Child of God" then went right to sleep. I know, I'm spoiled.

And he has started doing this (sometimes it results in a flip-over hand stand):

So, school starts on Tuesday. I'm physically prepared to go back, but not mentally. It has been an excellent break, and I only have about 4 months until I graduate, so it's do-able.
Also, as a big relief, I FINALLY memorized my concerto! Prokofiev's Piano Concerto no. 2. I have a competition next month, but more importantly, my recital at the end of March, that I need to be ready for. So, this is a good start. This means that my entire grad recital is now memorized, not perfect, but memorized.

A Light! A Light!

2010-01-11T16:13:00.002-07:00

I can't stop laughing about these videos. Aiden keeps us well entertained!

Way to go Boise State Broncos!

2010-01-05T13:11:00.001-07:00

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

2009-12-30T14:45:00.010-07:00

We finally got some good packing snow today, so Aiden and I took advantage. Enjoy.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2009-12-30T14:30:00.011-07:00

We had such a great Christmas this year! There is nothing better than being at home, with your family, enjoying the spirit of Christmas, and watching the expressions on everyone's faces as they open their gifts:

Yes, Bryce loves Transformers.

Working SO hard to open his 'Wiggles' DVD.
I love when I find something that makes Bryce laugh like this!

Seriously? Shoes?

We thought for sure Aiden would get excited about seeing and opening his gifts, but it didn't quite happen that way! He saw a firetruck book from Santa and had to read it before opening his first gift. Then saw his new tricycle and had to take it for a ride. After that, all he wanted to do was watch Chipmunks. Needless to say, it took a LONG time to finally open all his gifts.

Bryce and Aiden reading our traditional Christmas book on Christmas Eve.

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Ha-ha-Happy Birthday!

2009-12-30T14:22:00.021-07:00

I can't believe it was two years ago this little guy came into our lives. He was the best Christmas present ever!

Aiden continues to be a sweet, funny, and smart toddler. He learns something new every day and never ceases to surprise me.

Though his b-day was on Christmas Eve, we celebrated just after Christmas so my parents could celebrate it with us when they came. I think he was a little overwhelmed at the amount of presents from Christmas and his birthday. He didn't quite get the concept that a new toy came from every wrapped package- once he unwrapped a toy, he sat and played with it before he would open another one.

The birthday boy enjoyed every second of attention he got- he was making everyone laugh throughout his entire party:

Blowing out the candles:

Playing with some new presents:

OK, enough presents already!

Aiden LOVES his Grandma and Grandpa- thanks again for coming! (And Courtney, who took most of these pictures!)

Happy Birthday to me!

SANTA!!!!!!!

2009-12-21T16:37:00.012-07:00

Hooray! I am officially out of school for almost a month! I am in shock that I was actually able to accomplish everything I needed to for finals. I flew down to Utah on Dec. 10th for my sister's wedding then flew back to Boise on Dec. 12th, and did homework from the minute I got home until 3 in the morning!

On Monday, I had my piano jury, 4 vocal juries, reported on my theory book reviews, as well as a K-12 curriculum for a general music student/piano student. What?!!! I was in a daze for a few days, then snapped out of it and have thoroughly been enjoying my Christmas vacation.

Aiden and I have been very busy reading Christmas books, playing "farm", watching Chipmunks and Garfield's Christmas, shopping, and eating banana bread. What more could you ask for?

And during his 3.5 - 4 hour naps (I know, I am LUCKY!), I have been cleaning my neglected home, wrapping presents, and crafting like crazy.

Here are a few of my finished projects, more to come. My kitchen counter has been covered with my "to-do" crafts for months, and I am determined to have an empty counter by the time school starts again!

I know, it's a Halloween decoration. That's how long I have been neglecting it.

I am re-doing Aiden's room. I have big plans, and these letters will be on his shelf.

Aiden has been SO fun lately. He is truly an entertainer and is very curious about everything. Yesterday, he got a hold of the letters (above), though they were way up on my counter. I went into the kitchen to find the dishwasher opened as well as a drawer. He had climbed up on the dishwasher door, hoisted himself up with the drawer, and reached the letters.

This picture shows how he reaches the light-switches:

Aiden and Daddy built this fort while I was studying. I love these two!

Uh oh. I am in trouble.

Our little "Deer" in nursery.
What a cheese ball!

Today at the grocery store, an older gentleman was standing next to us who had white hair and a beard, and who happened to be wearing a red/black checkered jacket. Aiden took one look at him and yelled "SANTA!!!!!!!!!!! Mommy- Santa!!!!!!!" It was everything I could do not to laugh! The man smiled and said hi to Aiden, even though Aiden's finger was pointing at his face. And I thought Aiden didn't know who Santa was! Oh, the joys of Christmas.

FYI- my little bug will be 2 in three days!

December Craziness

2009-12-07T23:21:00.009-07:00

It just hit me that we are now in December and there are only weeks until Christmas! We have been super busy around here!

We went to Utah for Thanksgiving with the Kezerian family for a week and had a blast with Grandpa, Grandma (who was called Grandpa until Grandpa was gone for an afternoon, and then everyone was Grandma), and the rest of the fam (minus Ben, Britty and Livi in Cincinatti). Besides Bryce throwing out his back, we had a great time, even with the Black Friday madness
(I got everything I sought out for. It was a Christmas miracle!).

Here is Aiden with cousin Jocie, his buddy all week. (Sorry her cute face is cut out!) They were not to be separated!

I was debating whether or not to take this shirt back because it's short-sleeved, but when Aiden saw it, he yelled "Oh! It's matman! (Batman)" He is his dad's son. I had to keep it.

I thought you'd like this face. He kind of looks like Edward from Twilight, don't you think?

My two boys, watching our 'Annual Christmas-Movie-a-Day in the Month of December.' Lately it has been 'Alvin and the Chipmunks-a-day.' Aiden dances to it and laughs at all the funny parts. He is definitely his mom's son (that was my favorite growing up).

Yesterday, I heard a cute voice say "Mommy, I hided!" This is what I found. Lately, when I can't find something, I ask Aiden, and he says, "I hided it."

Well, finals are coming along, slowly but surely. My stack of theory books has dwindled down to 3! (Due next Monday). My jury is also on Monday (wish me luck!), as well as my 4 vocalists whom I accompany. Things have been super crazy, but we have been really blessed. I am so grateful for my patient husband who teaches our primary class every week so I don't get too stressed out, and who lets me unload all my stories about school on him daily. And for my sweet Aiden. I couldn't ask for any other almost-two-year old. He makes me smile just thinking about him. Life is Great.

Thankyou.

2009-11-11T12:59:00.003-07:00

A tribute and memory to all those who fight and have fallen in defense of our own lives and lives of others.

Thanks Grandpa Bob, for fighting for that freedom.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-05T14:58:00.010-07:00

Aiden absolutely loved Halloween and his lion costume this year. He laughed every time we put it on him and said "Roar!!!!" to everyone. It was very cute. He also caught on to the whole trick-or-treat concept very quickly. We had to keep up with his little legs running as fast as they could to the next candy bowl.

Our subdivision has a large park where every year, everyone sets up their lawn chairs and candy bowls so the kids can trick-or-treat in a big circle. Aiden loved saying "treat" and "dank you" (along with the sign for thank you) to everyone. Surprisingly, he didn't try to eat any of his candy; it was all just too exciting to stop.

I think I had this exact same pumpkin bucket at his age...

Apparently Bryce and I went as BSU fans.

Upon discovering what happens when he says trick-or-treat...

"dank you!"

We ran into our neighbor and friend, Chad. They just stared at each other, probably wondering "who are you?"

Aiden's little tail wagged when he ran, which he is doing in this picture.

It is so fun now that Aiden is getting old enough to have fun during the holidays. I absolutely love this time of year.

In other news, this entire toppling stack of theory books need to be read, analyzed, and reported on by Dec. 1! Aaaahhhh! Wish me luck, and sanity. And hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Cute Pics

2009-10-27T14:28:00.008-06:00

My sister Courtney took these pictures of Aiden when we were in Utah last weekend. Courtney is amazing at capturing the sweetest pictures of Aiden.

I can totally hear him saying "LOOK!"

A mid-air jump on Grandpa's trampoline.
Doesn't he look so old in this pic?

And, big news in the Kezerian household- my sister Nicki is engaged! She and Todd are getting married December 11 and we are all very excited!

Discovery Center

2009-10-27T13:53:00.009-06:00

This past weekend, our good friends the Vest's came to stay with us. Aiden had an absolute blast running around with Boston and Brody.

We spent most of the day Saturday at the Discovery Center in downtown Boise. We had never been, but it was well worth $6.50 and free kids admission. The place is packed full of activities for kids that teach about science and interaction. Aiden ran around in circles because there was SO much to do and look at.

We had a few stations we liked more than others. One favorite was the giant bubble blower. It was pretty intense:

Aiden, Boston, and Brody helped out the 'sick' animals in the veterinary center, while Bryce and Shane competed on who could finish wooden puzzles the fastest. Joanna and I watched, thinking "I think our husbands are still 8 years old!"

The kids spent the most time in the grocery store. It made me realize how observant kids are! They each got their own shopping cart to grocery shop with, put food into their carts and checked out at the register. The kids knew exactly what to do (though they ended up with a lot of zucchinis and laundry detergent).

Then we played in the park. The kids were non-stop the entire day. What a great way to spend a Saturday! Thanks for coming guys, we will always have a pack-and-play and a blow-up mattress ready for you!

Fall Time

2009-10-27T13:33:00.013-06:00

You know in the movies where they rake up a GIANT pile of leaves and then jump in it? I got motivated and decided to rake the leaves in our front yard into a pile of leaves that was big enough to cover Aiden and me. The big tree in our front yard decided to dump all its leaves off at once, leaving me with an entire yard full of leaves, so Aiden helped me rake up this beauty:

Not as big as I had imagined, but it wouldn't hold its shape, and it took forever to rake! Along came Aiden...

And this is what my awesome pile of leaves looked like after he was done. Worth every minute of raking!

This is my favorite picture because Aiden made his own little pile of leaves and jumped in it. He's so creative!

He helped me rake the rest of the leaves up after he was done jumping. He actually had his own 'mini' rake, but preferred the huge heavy one. He's such a tough guy.

Happy Leaf Jumping!

Love You!

2009-10-08T16:02:00.006-06:00

We have been lovin' on our sweet toddler lately. He has recently picked up quite a few words and is an absolute riot.

A few weeks ago, I laid him down in bed, wrapped him in his "blankey" and said 'I love you!' and gave him a kiss. As I shut the door behind me, I heard him rustle out of his blanket, stand up and yell "LOVE YOU!!!!" It melted my heart.

The next morning as I was waiting for him to wake up, I heard a little voice softly say "Mommy, where are you?" This is a welcome change from the usual "All done, all done, all done..."

And he has also learned to trot like a horse, and is actually really good at it! I frequently find him trotting the circle of our house saying "horsey, horsey, horsey." Laughing all the way. I hope you can picture it, it's quite cute.

We love our cute little monster.
(Jo, notice how we are actually laying on the couch instead of the floor?! That's for you.)

Aiden's pillow pit. It keeps him entertained for hours!

Just Because

2009-09-10T21:10:00.007-06:00

While my brain is fried from studying way too much, or I'm searching for a reason not to have to study anymore, the blog is calling my name! This is exactly why I shouldn't study at home :)

All I can say is that I heart my little family. Even though I locked our pizza and my keys in the car yesterday and had to have Bryce come save me (we celebrated 09/09/09 by ordering our favorite Idaho Pizza. How else could we celebrate?), my kitchen is a mess and I have no intentions of cleaning it, though I finally got all the laundry put away and hung and somehow the baskets filled up with dirty clothes again, and we have had spaghetti three times already this week, Bryce still loves my face and Aiden still yells "It's a Mommy!" every time he sees me. Life is good.

I have been getting cuddle time in the mornings and at night lately. I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Day of the big Bronco game. Yes, we are now Bronco fans (I love that George had to be included).

I love this little monster!

2009-08-27T21:38:00.006-06:00

How can I resist this happy face?

One of the few times Aiden has hugged me cheek-to-cheek. Good thing daddy was ready with the camera:

Followed by Aiden's famous "sly eye":

Despite all signs of the terrible two's, I love this little monster.

Is summer really over?

2009-08-22T21:12:00.013-06:00

Summer has come to an end, and what a great summer it has been! I cannot believe how busy we have been. I love list-making (something I learned from a very organized dad), so here is a list of my summer happenings:

1. Lots of trips to Utah (too many to count) to spend time with both sides of the family.
2. A super fun trip to Oregon.
3. A deep cleaning of my house (twice).
4. Lots of garage sales.
5. A new car.
6. Family bike rides around the neighborhood every night since we got a back-seat for Aiden.
7. Jogging to the park every morning with Aiden, who yelled "Weeeeee!" (slide) the whole way.
8. Losing 12.5 lbs. Yep. I did it. Not that it shows, but I lost a notch in my belt. I might need to update that to only 10 lbs. after today's trip to the Boise Fair.
9. Trying to teach Aiden his ABC's, numbers, and animals. His favorite letters are T and O, his favorite number is 2, and his favorite animal is the cow who says moo, along with the horse and the goat. Who knew?
10. And an almost finished Christmas quilt. I will finish it this weekend, but I don't know if I'll remember to post a picture. I started this quilt when Aiden was about 6 mo. old and am FINALLY finishing it. If I'd have known the time this quilt required, I don't know if I would have started it in the first place. But I have learned a lot, especially considering the biggest sewing project I have ever done only required me to sew a series of squares together, then give it to my grandma to finish the corners.

It is a 12 Days of Christmas quilt which I am finishing now because I will not have time to look at it once school starts, and I want to have it for Christmas. It is far from perfect, but because of the time I have spent on it, it will always be special to me.

Here are some pictures from my most recent trip to Utah when all my sisters and their kids got together. No husbands, just sisters. It was awesome, but very exhausting.

Here are all the kiddos:

I love the look on Aiden's face and his little hand pushing Livi away. He actually really liked playing with her.

This is what we did with Aiden in my bike before we got a bike seat for him. He looks like he's sitting in Mary Poppin's magical bag because he's so big and the basket is so little, but he actually really enjoyed it! This kid is extremely flexible- he can do the straddles and the splits with no problem.

Bryce and I had an end of summer/beginning of school extravaganza this weekend. Last night, we got Italian food and went to see Time Traveler's Wife. Since moving away from family, we haven't had too many dates just the two of us, so it was nice to have a quiet and relaxing night (though most of our conversation was about Aiden).
And today, we went to the Boise Fair, which was quite the event! Aiden "wow"ed at all the rides and loved the petting zoo.

A perfect way to end a hot day at the fair- Ice Cream!

For my final year of grad school, I have been offered an amazing opportunity to get my fill of accompanying. Ever since my first year as an undergrad, I have LOVED accompanying (thanks to Jenni, Lisa, Halsey, and later Tally!) and wanted to get my masters specializing in accompanying but I needed foreign language credits, which I didn't have. About a month ago, I got an email from the head of the music department offering me an opportunity to accompany for 2 choirs and a vocal studio and I have been excited, yet slightly overwhelmed, ever since. So, here's to an awesome and crazy semester. Wish me luck, and hopefully you will hear from us before I graduate in 8 months!

Really?

2009-07-22T12:57:00.005-06:00

The following post should explain why I haven't had any time to blog lately!

Yesterday morning, I awoke to the usual sound of Aiden jibber-jabbering for someone to come get him out of his crib. As I walked to his bedroom, I noticed his sound machine (we use it to block out noises so he can sleep soundly. I works like a dream!) was turned up ALL the way. Weird. I opened the door and Aiden was sitting in a pile of clothes he had taken out of his dresser. ON THE FLOOR! He escaped from his crib without a sound! What?! The only funny part was that he was so nonchalant about it, like it wasn't unusual for him to be sitting on the floor first thing in the morning.
He tried to escape about two weeks ago but it scared him to death. I didn't think he'd try it again, but I was wrong. Is this normal for an 18 mo. old baby to be doing? Is it already time for a toddler bed? My Dr. recommended just putting a mattress on the floor so he can't fall out of bed. I guess he's just growing up.

I kept a VERY close eye on him during his afternoon nap, which proved to be a successful nap in the crib. I was in a hurry to get somewhere, so for lunch, I opened up a can of Chef Boyardee ravioli, remembering all the commercials about the one serving of veggies in every serving. Aiden was loving every bite of it so I went to send off an email, and when I returned, this is what I found (notice the missing bowl and fork, which ended up on the floor along with most of his lunch):

Really? 2 minutes. I don't even know how he managed to get so much sauce in so many places! So, I put him in the tub, and after I drained the water, there was seriously a ring of orange around the tub. Nasty. I will think twice before feeding anyone in this family anything from Chef Boyardee, even with the serving of veggies.

Happily, despite all the shenanagins Aiden has been causing, he is the light of my life. Bryce and I sit around every night after he goes to bed laughing about all the funny things he says and does every day. I know I will look back at these pictures in 10 years and laugh, so I make it a point to laugh now so I don't miss out on all the fun.

4th of July

2009-07-07T11:07:00.015-06:00

For the 4th, we drove out to Portland to visit our good friends, Mark and Anastasia. We left on Saturday morning and got back Monday night, so it was a short, but very busy trip! Portland is only about 6.5 hours from our home. It's nice to have a vacation spot other than St. George for a change!

Mark and Ana took us to the Rose Gardens, full of hundreds and hundreds of different types of roses. It was absolutely beautiful. It overlooks downtown Portland (kind of visible in the background).

This fuschia variety was my favorite and smelled beautiful!

Our favorite part of the trip was going to the Goonie house in Astoria, OR. For all those who have seen the movie Goonies (I don't know anyone who hasn't!), it is the house the two brothers lived in at the beginning of the movie, and it is accessible for the public to take pictures of. Pretty sweet. I would love to live in one of these seaside towns. The houses are all so full of character.

We also went to a lighthouse just off the coast. If you want to climb to the very top, they let you throw wooden airplanes and watch them either nosedive or land in the surrounding trees. It was pretty entertaining. Bryce kept Aiden at the bottom while I climbed up to the top, and I tried to get Aiden's attention by waving. Bryce kept telling Aiden to look up at Mommy, but he couldn't quite figure out where I was. Then, Aiden suddenly yelled "There's a Mommy!" and waved at me. So cute.

Bryce and Aiden waving up at me from the right:

We grabbed this 6-12 mo. jacket instead of his 18-24 mo. jacket and were very lucky that it zipped up because it was really windy and cold, even if the sleeves were 3/4 length and the hood didn't even begin to cover his head!

Lastly, we went to Seaside, OR and walked up and down a busy boardwalk full of arcades, restaurants and candy shops. It was too cold to walk down to the ocean, but we did get this picture in front of the rock that One Eyed Willey's ship sails out from at the end of Goonies. I know, we're famous.

And here is the biggest bag of salt water taffy I have ever seen. We couldn't resist.

On the drive home, we decided to stop at one of the scenic exits and were so glad we did! We saw 2 huge waterfalls. Aiden absolutely loved the "Wat" (water).

We had such an awesome weekend! When we pulled into our driveway after the long drive, Aiden said "All done." He had had enough. But we still had a great time. Thanks again Mark and Ana!

There is no way my baby is 18 months old!

2009-07-07T10:56:00.006-06:00

This post is a few weeks overdue, but better late than never! Aiden turned 18 mo. on June 24. I can't believe how fast time has flown by with him. He is an angel baby and we can't imagine life without him. We feel so blessed to have such a sweet, loving, social, yet very independent baby.
His 18 mo. checkups are next week, so I don't have any stats, but Aiden is a sturdy, healthy, tall baby. Enough said. We frequently call him "the tank." He isn't fat by any means, just solid.
He is also very smart and has learned somewhere around 60 words and few letters and numbers. He is very loved!

Here are a few of his 18 mo. pictures:

Time to Practice!

2009-06-12T12:26:00.005-06:00

When I was in high school, I had to make a very tough decision about my piano lessons. A teacher I had taken from for years thought it was time for me to move on to a more advanced teacher. I either had to step it up to the next level, or stop taking lessons. I made the decision that I wanted to continue. I auditioned with a few teachers in our area, but felt very drawn to one in particular, Dr. David Glen Hatch. He has become the inspiration behind my passion for the piano. He integrated flare, competition, hard work, technique, and expected perfection. I felt very motivated to progress. The only concern he had for me was that I practiced at home on an upright piano, instead of a grand. These instruments can get quite pricey, so my parents and I had a dilemma.
Weeks later, I received another motivating factor in my desire to play when my great-Aunt Cleo offered to purchase the instrument for me! I have always felt like without this instrument, I would have never auditioned for college, thus not getting my performance degree, thus not going on to get my masters. It seemed like such a small thing at the time to someone as clueless as a high school student, but it has become one of the bigger blessings in my life because of its lasting effects. I felt like I needed to explain the background story in order to make this post more meaningful.
Since we bought our home, Bryce and I finally have somewhere to put my piano! After almost two months of waiting for the moving company, we finally have the piano in our home! I am excited to finally be able to practice in my home instead of at the school. Aiden can't hear it when he naps, so it has worked out perfectly.

As you can tell by the stacks of music, I am already putting it to good use.

Rex

2009-06-12T12:22:00.003-06:00

I drove down to Utah in my cute blue Jetta that I got my sophomore year of college, but I left her in Utah. The Jetta has treated me well, but it was time for a new member to join our family. Meet Rex, the Pathfinder.

We Made It!

2009-06-12T10:34:00.012-06:00

Our family of 3 finally made it back home after an adventurous two weeks in Utah! Aiden and I went down on May 27 for my youngest sister Courtney's high school graduation. (I still don't feel like she's old enough to graduate high school and go to college! No way.) We stayed for just over a week at my mom and dad's house and Bryce flew in on Friday night. Hallelujah! Bryce's earlier post describes his life without us at home. But don't worry, we have re-stocked the fridge with real food, Aiden is more entertaining than any of Bryce's t.v. shows, and the Hawaiian shirt is safely hung back in the closet where it belongs.

Between my mom and dad and my two sisters at home, I had plenty of babysitters. Aiden was absolutely spoiled and spent most of his days in the back yard playing on the swing set and the driving around the cars (which he asked for every morning as soon as he woke up, as well as multiple times during the day). It has been hard living in Idaho when my parents live in Utah because we don't see them enough, but Aiden always warms up to my parents after only a few minutes. Aiden LOVES his Grandma and Grandpa.
I went running every morning with Aiden in the jogging stroller. One morning, an old bishop of mine went riding by on his bike and waved at us. Aiden got one glance at him and said, "Grandpa? Grandpa!!!!!" I suppose he slightly resembled my dad. Aiden wasn't going to take any chances on missing out on being with his Grandpa.

Aiden rarely gets to see his cousins, especially the cousins on Bryce's side. During Courtney's graduation, Aiden spent a few hours with his cousins in North Orem, the Fitzgeralds. Their oldest, Jeff, same age as Courtney, and their youngest is 6, so Aiden has lots of great babysitters.

Aiden also spent a morning with his cousin Cameron from St. George at Chuck E. Cheese. I have never seen him so excited in my life, and he is known to get pretty excited. He was running in circles the entire time, dancing and laughing. I spent only $2 (most of which was spent by me at skeeball) and Aiden was entertained for hours. Best $2 I ever spent.

This is Aiden with Camo on one of the rides.

And this video is the epitome of what every child's experience should be like at Chuck E. Cheese. I especially love the part where he mouths "WOW!"

The sucker that in all actuallity cost me $2. Totally worth it. I love that he's also giving a thumbs up!

The reason we stayed so long in Utah was that we went to Bryce's family cabin the Sunday after he flew into Utah. The trip from Boise to Orem is just long enough that I didn't want to do it twice in one week.
The cabin is up in Sundance and is one of the only times we get together with Bryce's entire family each year. This year there were 24 of us, including my sis-in-law Maren's entire family of 5 from Arizona. We never get to see them, so its always fun when they come up. Bryce has 7 kids in his family, so it is always a full house when we all get together!
There is a tennis court and playground down the street, and the Provo River flows by the back porch, so there is always something to do.
This year, we celebrated Bryce's belated birthday, complete with Batman decor and a pinata shaped like a movie camera.

Aiden got the first swing at the pinata.

I love this picture because it reminds me of all the pinatas in my life when everyone rushes to the candy. I had to stop myself from my initial reaction to run when the pinata broke open. Force of habit! Luckily, my cute niece Kaitlyn heard my request to Bryce for just one pink Laffy Taffy.

I thought I took more pictures of everyone, but I think I was too busy chasing Aiden around and trying to get him to take his naps. A combination of too many kids, being away from home for too long, cutting FIVE teeth, and an unfamiliar place to sleep led to no naps for Aiden, along with his waking up after he went down at night. He is usually such a good sleeper, but I think two weeks of crazily running around all day finally got to him! We wish he had been happier for our family pictures, but there always has to be one kid in every picture who refuses to smile, right?

We managed to get a few cute pics of just the three of us

Though we had a great time in Utah, it was definitely time to come home. I am up to my elbows in laundry needing to be folded and a house needing to be cleaned, but I am smiling from ear to ear because it feels great just to be home!

Bachelor vs Baching It

2009-05-31T14:24:00.014-06:00

So for the last few days and for the next week I am going to be home alone. During which I have come to some interesting conclusions about my life as a married "bachelor".

If I was a true bachelor, my nights would consist of late parties, hanging out with friends and picking up on women.

Now, my nights consist of hanging with my friends: NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX. Occasionally Xbox will come over and so will DVD. The party only really lasts till 9:30 pm, because, I couldn't handle the excitement and I fall asleep.

If I was still single, I would be eating at all the nice restaurants, getting the best ice cream, and eating till I couldn't eat anymore.

Now, my eating is finding anything in the kitchen and using my imagination to create something of a meal. "Oh look! Sandwich meats and string cheese. Eating those together sounds great!"

If I was single, I would dress in the top of the line clothing, wear the best shoes, comb my hair to perfection, and smell ever so nice.

Now, my Wal-Mart shorts and my Hawaiian shirt seem to look just fine together. Oh, and the smell of fresh cut lawn is always a crowd pleaser, not to mention my unkempt hair and half shaven face.

I guess you can see what I am trying to say. I LOVE MY LIFE!! I love that I can smile to myself everywhere I go in my Hawaiian shirt, grass stained shoes, unkempt hair, and hang with my "friends" every night, knowing that my Princess and my little Bug still love me.

I miss you guys, I will see you soon!

School's Out for the Summer!

2009-05-13T11:20:00.009-06:00

I have successfully completed my first year of grad school! Only one more to go! Yahoo! I have my last class period tonight, which consists of me and the other 6 grad students reading our final research papers and eating pie. Now that's my kind of final!

I have absolutely LOVED going back to school, but it has been a lot of work. I have really struggled to find a fine line between being a wife, mommy, student, and cleaning my house/laundry/dishes... But I have been blessed with a very supportive husband who takes Aiden when I need to study, and who tells me to "just order a pizza" when I stress about finding time to make dinner. And I have the world's most well-tempered toddler who just goes with the flow. Seriously, this child is an angel!

I am so excited to spend all summer working on all my projects and playing with Aiden! We spent all day yesterday just laughing and playing silly games. He is SO creative and laughs at everything. There is never a dull moment.

This is what we played yesterday. It started out with me hiding under the box, then popping out saying "peek-a-boo" and Aiden laughing hysterically, a tiny hole turning into a big eye hole, to Aiden having to wear the box and walk around like a zombie. Does life get any better?

Don't you just want to squeeze those cheeks?

And this is what happened when Daddy came home from work. They are both a couple of jokesters. Look at that little smirk- he knows he's funny.

Suzy Homemaker

2009-05-05T18:05:00.002-06:00

On Saturday, I got really excited realizing that I only have 2 weeks left of my first year of grad school. So, I cleaned my entire house and got out my sewing machine, which has been in hiding since before Aiden was born. I pulled out a pile of Bryce's pants that needed to be patched up and got to work. I was so excited to finally be getting some stuff done that wasn't related to school! I got the pants all patched up and continued on with my day.

Sunday morning, Bryce came in to take a look at his pants. He pointed out that I forgot to stitch one side of a patch. He then held the pants up to check the rest of the patches, and then we saw it-- the reason I am a musician instead of a Home Economics Major like my mother:
Instead of cutting the denim patch out of my old pair of denim capris that were sitting right next to Bryce's jeans on the counter, I cut up Bryce's Jeans! Ahhhh! Yet, as I was thinking about how stupid and un-observant I was, Bryce was laughing. He now wants to make a denim quilt out of them. I have such a great husband. To reinforce this statement, refer to a previous blog about a shrunken sweater....

Family

2009-04-27T13:37:00.015-06:00

Two weeks ago, my sister Brittney and her baby, Olivia, flew into Utah from Cincinnati and Jenny, my older sister, drove down from Rexburg with her three kiddos. So Aiden and I packed up, drove to Utah, and spent the weekend with my fam. It was so fun having all the grandkids together. They don't get to see each other enough.

Right when we walked in the door, Olivia (only 8 mo.) grabbed Aiden by his shirt and gave him a big hug. It was so sweet. Then Aiden spent the rest of the night with his older cuz, Josie (2 1/2).

I think this is the sweetest picture I will ever capture of them.

They were just two of a kind all weekend. It was so fun for them.

Sadly, this is the only picture I got of baby Livi. She went to bed shortly after we got there, then left for home the next morning. I didn't get to squeeze her cheeks nearly enough.

The rest of these pictures were taken by my youngest sister, Courtney. She has become quite the photographer. I am lucky she was around to get some cute pics of the kids.

As we all know, Aiden LOVES water.

This last picture was taken Sunday morning. I had put Aiden in the tub then got him out and put him in his clothes. Before the tub could even drain, he ran back into the bathroom and got back into the tub. We all had a good laugh. I am just glad I didn't put him in his church clothes quite yet!

Daddy Time

2009-04-27T13:36:00.002-06:00

As hard as I try, I can never get cuddle time with Aiden like Bryce does. Aiden loves his daddy, if you can't tell...

Sprinklers

2009-04-27T13:28:00.010-06:00

We turned on our sprinklers for the first time last week and Aiden was enthralled. He started out a little hesitant, but after a few minutes he was drenched and I think he would have played in them all night if I would have let him.

I think this face does justice to how much fun he had in the sprinklers...

Easter Fun

2009-04-18T11:57:00.015-06:00

Once again, I should be studying instead of posting on my blog (especially since finals are in 3 weeks! Ahhh!), but Aiden is asleep, my house is clean, and I finally have a few minutes to post these cute pics.

This was Aiden's first official Easter because last year he couldn't even sit up. He caught on to the concept of picking up the eggs really fast because they were filled with goldfish crackers and fruit loops. (I couldn't justify giving him Cadbury eggs and jelly beans quite yet!)

Here he is with his Easter basket filled with fun toys and bubbles.

And the hunt begins...

We asked him where the eggs were. He wasn't sure. Cute. (Can you find the eggs in the background?)

He actually tried to escape half-way through the egg hunt. But he came back when he realized there were more eggs to be found.

He couldn't wait to open his eggs and eat his "crackers."

We had such a fun Easter. It's so true when people say that the holidays become more fun when you have kids. Aiden makes it so worth it! We love seeing his cute smile and his little legs running as fast as they can when he finds an egg.

My parents came Sunday night for Easter dinner and we spent the next day shopping and eating and just catching up. Aiden loved seeing his grandparents. After they flew back home on Tuesday, I put Aiden down for a nap. When he woke up, the first thing he said was "Man-ma?" (Grandma) He searched the house for her then threw his hands up, like "where is she?" It was so cute.

Happy Anniversary Babe!

2009-04-14T12:22:00.003-06:00

Kisses!

2009-04-07T13:37:00.003-06:00

Aiden loves giving kisses, even though they are open mouthed! Luckily for us, he gives kisses on the cheek and wipes them off when he's done!

Cracker!!!!!

2009-04-07T13:31:00.005-06:00

Aiden has become very self-reliant and doesn't want any help eating his food. As a result, my kitchen floor is frequently covered in applesause, spaghetti, pbj's, and eggs, which are currently his favorite foods and all named "cracker."

100 Books

2009-04-07T13:18:00.002-06:00

Bryce and I love to read books to Aiden, especially just before bed because he is tired and just wants to relax while we read to him. We have read through every book in the house many times, so I started looking through the library at BSU. There were SO many kids books, I didn't know which ones would be interesting to Aiden, or even age appropriate. Then, I talked to my wonderful sister-in-law, Jillisa, who teaches the child development classes at BYU-Idaho. She led me to this web-site: www.kcls.org/readytoread. It has tons of information on age appropriate reading for kids. If you click on the link 'Book Lists,' it will lead you to a list of '100 Books Every Child Should Hear Before Starting School.' I recognize a ton of books on the list and am so excited to pick them up so I can read them to Aiden.

Spontanious Combustion: When Batteries Attack.

2009-03-19T12:14:00.012-06:00

Bryce and I were enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon in our new home. Bryce was on the computer and I was in the kitchen getting a drink of water. Suddenly, I heard a noise like a gun shot. I ducked down while all sorts of banging and clattering noises continued until it stopped and I heard a big "BANG". I looked towards the noise and saw that our kitchen floor was on fire! I yelled to Bryce "We are on fire!!!!" Bryce came running into the kitchen, in shock and awe. It took us a few minutes to figure out what had happened but what we discovered is that the batteries in one of our flashlights blew up! Literally blew up.

Minutes before, I had been unpacking and set a flashlight on a shelf in the kitchen. The batteries blew the flashlight into the shelf, indenting the flashlight into the wood, shot across the room into the wall, leaving multiple holes. One battery then shot across the room and chipped the molding on the door to our garage, while the other burst into flames on the kitchen floor.

Here is the circle from the flashlight indent:

Here are the holes:

And here is the battery acid after the fire:

We had two of the same flashlights, so we found the batteries and compared the original battery to the one that blew up:

Here are the remnants of the incident. We have found more pieces since we took the picture:

We feel SO blessed that no one was hurt. So many things could have gone worse, like if I was still holding the flashlight when it blew, or if Aiden was in his high chair, which sits DIRECTLY under the holes in the wall. We are so lucky, except for the fact that we now have holes in our walls and battery acid on our floor!
So, as a healthy reminder: Replace all your batteries and treat them nice or they might backfire on you some day!

Home, Sweet Home

2009-02-27T13:38:00.026-07:00

Bryce and I finally closed on our new home and moved in last week! Yay! It's amazing how everything has worked out so perfectly with this home.
When we first started looking for a home, we drove through a neighborhood that we instantly fell in love with. There wasn't really anything available there at the time, but we remembered the area because the street names were all named for classical composers (ironic, I know!). About a month ago, our agent sent us a listing for a home in that very neighborhood. We went through it the next morning, put an offer on it, and the rest is history. We knew it was the home for us when, the first time we went inside, Aiden said, repeatedly, "WOW! WOW!"
We are still in a mess and are trying to finish unpacking, but this place feels more like home than our previous apartment did after six months.

I have lots of family and friends who won't be able to see the house for a while, so these pictures are for you. Here she is:

When you first walk in, this is what you see. Well, you probably won't see Aiden there, but you might!

To the right is the living room. The lighting is bad, but the room is very yellow.

To the left of the staircase is this bathroom:

And the french doors on the left lead to our den/bedroom. We're not sure what to do with it yet.

Behind that is our family room:

The kitchen is next to it. I only dare show pictures of our house in this messy stage, especially the kitchen, because it can only get better from here! Once we get the house to where we want it I will post more pictures. In this picture, all our boxes are in the kitchen, unpacked, because our carpets hadn't been cleaned yet.

At the end of the kitchen is a walkway to the laundry room and a door leading back into the yellow living room. It kind of goes in a big circle.

Upstairs:

To the right is another full bath, then Aiden's room:

Then the "tiki" room. Don't ask.

Then our bedroom:

Our bathroom has toilet, vanity, tub, shower, and walk-in closet.

Then back down the stairs.

So there you have it! We have a lot of work to do, but it's going to be fun and exciting to make this house our own. Now that we have spare rooms, we expect visits from all our friends and fam!

Our Busy Little Family

2009-02-06T15:58:00.006-07:00

I feel like the theme of every post is "We are super busy!" Nothing has changed. But we are loving life. I love spending every free minute I have during the day with my baby and my hubby. We are a happy family loving life, with not much to complain about.

Aiden has been busy too. I feel like he is a new baby every morning when he wakes up- like has been up all night figuring out how to make sounds, improve coordination, or do something to make me laugh.

We have taught him a few sign language signs, but only in reference to eating, drinking and sleeping. Yesterday, I was feeding him some lunch and handed him his sippy cup. He threw it on the ground. I gave it to him again and he threw it on the ground. Then he looked at me and did the sign for "milk." I gave him a bottle of milk and he was as happy as could be. I love that he is able to communicate in some way or form with us. It makes life a lot easier!

Also, as I posted previously, Aiden has a new teddy bear that he sleeps with. When Bryce was putting him to bed the other night, he was fussing so Bryce gave him the bear. Aiden looked at the bear and said "Hi 'Orge!" We think he means George, but that's not a common name around our home by any means. He must have heard it somewhere! We had a good laugh (and still laugh about it). Here is Aiden with "Orge."

Aiden thinks he's all grown up already.

Aiden thinks everything is a game. Every blanket is to be used for "peek-a-boo" and not for keeping him warm. So is this box apparently...

My Cutie Pies

2009-01-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

I love this.

Playing Catch-Up

2009-01-22T20:47:00.005-07:00

Our lives have been incredibly busy around here for the past few weeks, so I am playing catch up and sharing a modge-podge of pictures to fill you in.

My most exciting news is that I finally passed all my entrance exams! Yay! I have been studying for almost 5 months straight, every day during Aiden's 3 hour nap, and my work has finally paid off. I am so grateful that it did. A few of my fellow grad-students have to take remedial courses, some up to 3 courses, so I am very lucky I actually remembered a thing or two from my undergrad courses. I am starting a new semester and am feeling energized and ready to go.
Aiden has been quite busy himself: learning to walk, learning to whisper "wow" every time he finds something cool, learning a few more signs- drink, eat, more and milk, learning that when he grabs a book and brings it to mommy that she will stop anything she's doing to read to him, and a few other exciting things shown below.

Aiden brought this bear off the toy shelf the other day and took an instant bond to it. I found him in his room hugging the bear and trying to rock it to sleep. We put the bear in bed with him and he has been using it as a pillow. He has to pick it up and show it to us every morning when we come to get him out of bed. It's really sweet.

Aiden's got some serious rhythm. He has been jamming out to this piano and all the different songs. Sometimes he dances to the music (more like bobs up and down), and sometimes he tries to conduct it (which is what we do with him during the hymns at church to keep him quiet).

So that's our life in a nutshell.

Spiderman

2009-01-08T14:50:00.003-07:00

For those of you who have never seen Aiden crawling, check this out. It looks really funny for us to see him, or other babies, who crawl on just their hands and knees. We should have done a Spiderman costume for Halloween this year.

Who Knew!

2009-01-08T14:46:00.005-07:00

Who knew an empty tennis ball can could be so funny?

Rubber Ducky

2009-01-08T14:09:00.006-07:00

I've got my entrance exam next Wed, so everyone cross your fingers that I pass! I'm supposed to be studying for it right now, but I need a serious break. I can only handle so much information!

I took these fun pictures of Aiden in the tub yesterday. He absolutely loves sitting in the tub.

He got some rubber duckies from my parents that light up when they hit the water. They have provided endless hours of entertainment.