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Garden Update

Our first update was on May 10th, since then we have planted 2 rows or peas and beans, lettuce, broccoli, cucumbers and tomatoes. This coming Tuesday we will be planting 3 jalapeno peppers and the rest of our peas and beans(we have a ton). Some things we have learned so far are: Stay on top of the weeds! They are the fastest growing things and they are over taking our garden haha, use a string to set your rows, use fertilizer when planting your seeds/plants, there are some awesome gardening hoes out there(lee valley tools) kinda expensive but worth it! Some of these might be obvious to you, but we are beginners. Know whats best for growing in this area. Town and Country Gardens are very friendly and have whats best for Idaho, places like walmart don't always carry stuff that grow well here. I think that's it right now. I'm sure we will keep learning by trial and error.

This was taken today, not the best picture. The church is growing corn, and thats what you see that is brighter green in the back of the picture. The only things we didn't plant from a seed are our tomatoes and jalapeno peppers. I'm excited for harvest!

Salt Lake City, UT

On the 21st we headed down to UT for another dr appt for Brian. He has been having problems with his shoulder that was injured in boot camp. They actually think he will have to have surgery again...bummer. We will find out on 6-7 what's going on and what they will be doing, but eventually he will need it replaced. Sad day for him:( The last time we went down to UT we didn't get back until 1am and we left that morning at 6ish, so I put my foot down and decided we were staying in a hotel this time. We went down the day before and met up with some friends for dinner and then Brian took Hunter swimming. I put Aubrie's little feet in, but obviously she's too little to go all the way into a pool. The next day(22nd) was Brian's appointment. I dropped him off and headed down to Sandy to take Hunter to the aquarium. It was lot's of fun to see how much he knows. I know I'm his mom, but he is one SMART little boy!! He knew all the sea animals before I even could tell him what it was! We were at the penguins and on the wall they a few pictures of different types of penguins. He noticed the biggest one and told me that he was the daddy penguin and that they take care of the babies. He definitely surprised me with that one:) It's been quite the adventure taking both kids out in public by myself, haha. While we were there Hunter had to use the bathroom, I'm sure I looked like a crazy women trying to get that taken care of;) It's getting easier and I'm hoping that this summer I will be able to take Hunter to more activities.

                                                       Little itty-bitty sea horses!

 Both Hunter and I were to scared to touch these guys, but they were cool!

 This picture makes me laugh. Hunter looks drunk and Aubrie's staring at him like umm...mom who is that weirdo LOL

                                                             My little ham:)

Aubrie is getting SO big. She was 7.5lbs when she was born and last Thursday she weighed 10.5lbs. She is rolly-polly! Hunter was like a little green bean, so it's been fun to see her get chubby!  Hunter and Aubrie are like night and day. He never cried, ever. If he needed something he would just make this grunting noise. Aubrie likes let you know she's around. She most often gets gassy in the evening and has cried up to 2 hours before her tummy feels better. We have tried the gas drops and the gripe water, but they only help a little. She does sleep really well at night! She is now sleeping through the night, and she is only 7 weeks old! She loves to smile and just this last week has started to coo. I just love it! I can't believe how fast the last 7 weeks have gone. It feels like she has always been a part of our family! We love her so much and are so blessed to have her and Hunter!

Sunset

Idaho has some of the best sunsets! I'm lucky enough to have a great view!! I love summer time:)

Our Garden

For a few years Brian and I have talked about how we would love to be able to have our own garden. Since we live in an apartment that just hasn't happened. Last year a few different couples in our ward had gardens on the outskirts of the church farm south of town and that seemed like something we could do! I was lucky enough to be able to get one of those plots this year!!! A full plot is 50ftX80ft or they have half plots. The helpers on the farm actually tilled it, and they water it for us! There are around 20 spots available, so I'm so happy we were able to get one!!! We decided to go with a half plot and I'm glad we did! I'm not sure we will even fill up a half plot. I'm excited to use my blog as a journal of sorts for our garden. It might be really boring if there are actually people still looking at our blog, lol.

So far we have planted 3 rows of red potatoes, 6 rows of yellow and red onions, and 2 rows of carrots. We still plan on planting peas, beans, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, and broccoli. It feels a little overwhelming right now, but this will be a great learning experience! Hopefully I will be good about updating what we have learned works well here in Idaho.

Playing Catch Up

About 2 weeks before Aubrie was born we took Hunter to the museum to see the dinosaurs. He loved it! It was very hands on and kid friendly. If you haven't been, you should go! About half way through close to 100 kindergartners showed up and then I wanted out of there haha. I'm glad we have such an awesome museum here in IF!

This was Aubrie's first bath at home. She didn't love it. She cried the whole time, but now she loves them and just relaxes!

On April 21st IF had a kids fair. Dora the Explorer and Deigo were there! We waited in line for over an hour to get 1 quick picture. I'm not sure we will ever go again. They didn't have much to look at, but Hunter was excited about Dora and that made it worth it.

On April 24th Brian had an appointment at the VA in SLC. Aubrie was only 2 weeks old so we decided that it was best to not bring her into the hospital with all the gross germs. I was planning on taking Hunter up to a park near the zoo, but he said he wanted to go to the Temple. I thought that sounded much more fun! We dropped Brian off and we made our way back to Temple Square. It was time to feed the baby so we did that near the parking garage entrance of the Joseph Smith building. I kept telling Hunter he had to be super good because you never know who you might see on the temple grounds. We have been plenty of times and have never seen anyone "special", but this time I noticed a couple of guys that looked like they belonged in the secret service. I was taking pictures of Hunter near one of the fountains and decided to go over by the tabernacle. I noticed a golf cart with 3 men dressed in suits coming towards us. As they got closer I could tell that it was 2 apostles, Pres Boyd K Packer and Elder Russell M Nelson. It was just Hunter, me and the baby and they stopped and asked if they could shake our hands. Hunter was very good and just stood there as we talked. Pres Packer told Hunter how much he liked his red hair and Elder Nelson told Hunter how grateful they were for him. You could tell how sincere he was. It was definitely a very special experience!

I took this picture of Aubrie on her changing table. I thought it was silly:) To me, she doesn't look like herself at all, but it's still a cute one! This was on her 4 weeks mark. I can't believe how fast the first 4 weeks have gone. It makes me sad. She is now completely out of her newborn clothes and just about into size 1 diapers. She is a stinker at night. She doesn't sleep very deep so I am constantly putting her binky. She falls asleep about midnight and wakes up between 4 and 6am, but won't let us lay her back in her bed. I'm hoping this changes quickly!! I'm trying harder to just lay her in her bed during the day so she gets more use to that. Having an older brother that likes to make lots of noise during the day makes it hard for her to stay asleep.

Hunter is one proud big brother. He can't get enough of her. Honestly, I feel like we are always telling him to leave her alone. He wants to help ALL the time, and usually ends up making her mad haha. I'm very happy that he loves her so much and wants to help instead of being jealous and being mad at her.

Introducing...

On April 6th we welcomed our newest member of our family! Aubrie RaNae was born at 10:33pm weighing 7lbs 5oz and measuring  20in. My due date was April 10th, but my doctor was going to be out of town that week so he decided to induce me on Friday the 6th. It was also my 27th  birthday:) I went into the hospital at 9am and they checked me in and got me situated and started the pit by 10am. Labor went SLOW. The doctor came over on his lunch break and tried to break my water, but it was still to high and he wasn't able to do it, bummer! The nurse thought for sure that he would break it so we decided to go ahead and get the epidural so that when labor started to get worse I would be comfortable. I wasn't even really feeling the contractions up to this point, so I was scared to get the epidural since I didn't feel like I needed it yet. The anesthesiologist  came in and got started. After he got the line in place he tested it to make sure it was good to go and unfortunately it wasn't working. He had to take it out and do it over. I didn't remember how weird it feels to get an epidural. The first time the line ended up kinked, kinda scary! Once everything was good, my blood pressure dropped a little low so they had to give me some meds to help it come back up. Finally things were good and the waiting game resumed. I waited and only progressed 1-2cm until 4:30pm. The doctor was able to break my water and things started going a little faster, but not much. Finally after 12.5 hours she arrived!! We couldn't be happier. She has such a sweet little spirit and we are so blessed to have her part of our family.

Big brother meeting his new little sister! He sure does love her alot:)

Going home! She had a little melt down getting into her carseat. She still hates getting into it.

My cousin Holli was kind enough to do newborn pictures for us! We also had Hunter be part of a few of them. Aubrie was content until we undressed her. She screamed her little head off the rest of the time. Hunter just wanted to keep playing with all of their fun toys, so it was a little bit of a struggle to make him look like he wanted to be there lol.

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

The weather yesterday was SO nice! The wind was blowing, but it wasn't cold so we decided to let Hunter fly his kite he got for Christmas. He was so excited! It's a shark and he loves it. It was dragging him around a little, but he held on tight and had fun. With all the wind we get in Idaho I'm sure we will be flying his kite alot this spring and summer.

Boise and the Baby

The 2nd weekend in February we went to Boise to visit Brian's sister and her family and to do some shopping! It was alot of fun!! It was so nice over there. Hunter played outside with his cousin and loved every second of it. We got an awesome deal on a nice hotel room(thanks Tara!!) and Brian took Hunter swimming. We ate some good food:) We spent most of Saturday shopping and then went and relaxed at my sister-in-laws. I wish we could go see them more often.

I only have 4.5 weeks until this little wiggle worm gets here! We(Brian) finally got the crib up yesterday and for whatever reason that made this seem way more real. I'm so excited to meet her and bring her home. The past few days I have been feeling a little more anxious about things like how am I going to chase Hunter around while trying to take care of a newborn, will Hunter be overly jealous and how will I handle that, is she going to be awake all night crying, is she going to be healthy. I know that everything will work itself out and that I'm just worrying about things I have no control over. Hunter is pretty independent, so it won't be like I am taking care of 2 babies, but I can't stop over thinking everything. I guess I've always been that way though:) More than anything I just want the next few weeks to fly by and get this little one here!

My Aunt Peggy

On Saturday February 18th my sweet and loving Aunt Peggy passed away. It was very unexpected. I know she is in a better place watching over her family, and we will all be together again. We all loved her so much and will miss her greatly.

It's been awhile

Obviously I haven't blogged in a very long time. I guess I just needed a good, long break. Most everyone knows that we are expecting baby #2 in April! We found out in December that it's a GIRL!!!! Hunter is so excited to be a big brother and is loving the idea that he gets a little sister:) Brian is now back in school working on his BA in social work. He just has a few classes left!! Unfortunately, he wasn't able to find a job in law enforcement, so we decided it was best to continue his education. He is also working full time and helping lots around the house! I'm now a stay at home mom and loving it most days! I'm getting excited to hold this precious little one and have my own body back. Hunter turned 4 in October and started preschool. He absolutely LOVES it!! He learns so much and always amazes us with all that he knows. His teacher told me today that out of everyone in his class he knows the most about animals. He loves to dance, sing, and do art of any kind. He is also loving primary. Hopefully I will keep this more up to date and learn to be better at journaling.

Hunter made the cutest crown in primary for Father's Day. It says "My pop is King"

Playing at the Rexburg splash park. We went with my friend Amy and her kids. They all had a blast! You can't beat FREE:)

Hunter's first day of preschool! He was so excited and not the least bit nervous. I thought I would cry my eyes out after dropping him off, and probably would have, but that day Brian was working his security job out in the the boonies and the tire on our car blew out and 5 am. He called and told me what had happened and that just minutes after pulling to the side of the road he saw a mountain lion. I told him he needed to wait til it was light out to change the tire and he agreed. After waiting for about an hour he realized he didn't have the right tools to get the tire off, so he woke his poor dad up. It takes about an hour to get to where Brian was at, so Brian waited some more. After all of that, he needed more tools so I quickly dropped Hunter off at school(hence the no crying) and drove out to the middle of now where to give them more tools. They finally got the tire off and the spare on and drove back to town to learn we needed not only 1 new tire, but all 4. What a long morning that was!

My little cowboy on Halloween.

Our birthday boy! I bet you can't tell he was excited;) I can't believe how fast he is growing up.

Grandma Payton

Brian's grandmother, Rose Payton, passed away on Saturday Feb 5, 2011. She was 94 years old. She was able to pass peacefully in her sleep, which we are all grateful for. For the last 8 years she has lived here in Idaho Falls at a local rest home. It's been nice for Brian's dad to be able to see her on a weekly basis and know that she was being well taken care of.

Brian has family from California and Oregon that the family hasn't seen in many years and luckily they were able to make the long drive to be here for the funeral. Although they were all here for her funeral, it's been nice to visit and get to know them. I know that Grandma Payton would have been so happy to have them all here! After the services the women of the relief society in Brian's parents ward put on a luncheon for us. It was so nice of them and we all appreciate their hard work!

These little squirts had lots of fun together the past 2 days. Gabe(our great-nephew) and Hunter are a year and a half apart. They played so well together! We wish we could see them more often!

Catching Up-again

I'm trying to play catch up from Oct-Dec 2010. This is a long post, but I want to remember all of it!

In the middle of September Brian had a PT test for school so he could graduate. Well, during the jumping part of the test he landed and hurt his knee. I kept telling him it was nothing and to "man up" and get over it and to prove my point I made him go to the doctor. It ends up I was wrong. They first said that he probably tore some cartilage and it would heal itself in a few weeks. A few weeks went by and he was still in alot of pain, so they did another x-ray and sent him to an orthopedic surgeon. There the dr confirmed that in fact he did tear his ACL and he would need surgery if he ever wanted to be a police officer. We decided it was best to wait until graduation was over and then have the surgery. We turned in the paperwork and set up a date for the Monday following graduation. We were just relieved that the school's insurance was going to cover most of it, then I received a phone call from the dr's office telling us that Brian's insurance was going to be cut off on Oct 15th, graduation day. There was NO way we could ever afford to pay for a surgery like this without the help of the insurance, so they fit us in for Oct 14th, the day before graduation. The surgery itself took only about an hour and a half, but the recovery time took almost 5 hours...what a long day for both of us. Thank heavens for my step-sister Kacie, who watched Hunter for us!! We got home about 5:3opm and some good friends brought us dinner, which was supper yummy!! They sent Brian home with what they call and drain tube. It's pretty gross, it's a tube inserted into his leg to drain the excess blood. I had to drain it once during the night and then again in the morning. Like I said it was pretty gross! The next morning we took him down to Pocatello(that's where his surgery was) to have his leg looked at and the tube removed. After that short visit we went up to the school and get him ready for graduation, he was heavily drugged so I had to do alot of helping:) I don't think he remembers half of it all. His niece Stephanie surprised him by coming all the way from Boise to be part of his special day! I am so proud of Brian for all his hard work and dedication! The recovery for his knee is going to take up to a year to be completely back to normal, but right now he is actually ahead of what the doctor expected. He is now going to the gym and working really hard to be able to go complete the PT test so that he can take his written test to have the certificate stating that he is certified to be a patrol/detention officer! We are planning for this to take place sometime at the end of January. On a side note, he did just apply for a job over by Boise so cross your fingers for us!!
This pic was taken right before surgery, he looks so nervous poor guy.
The day of graduation!!

I just thought this picture was cute, we were making home made pizza's. Hunter thought it was so much fun. Don't mind the mess in the background;)

We had such a nice fall this year. The temps were so nice, too bad it didn't last longer!! We have a tradition to pick our own pumpkins. Hunter had alot of fun, despite the rainy weather. For FHE we carved our pumpkins. I thought it would be fun for Hunter to paint a little one. He had a blast and now asks to paint everyday. This year Hunter dressed up as a lion, if you ask me I think he is the cutest lion I have ever seen:0 This year our ward put on a carnival and trunker treat. We all had so much fun and appreciate all the hard work that went into it!

I can't believe how fast the holidays came. We went to my Aunt and Uncle's house for Thanksgiving. I forgot my camera, but we had so much fun. We love them alot and thank them for always including us in their family!! They are so good to us, and they will never know how much it means to me.

Christmas this year was so nice. Hunter really understood "Santa Claus". He sang along to all the Christmas songs and always asked when Santa was coming. This year I was sick over Christmas weekend, but still loved every minute of it. My cousin Kristy gave us her kids' horse on springs. It's seriously one of Hunter's favorites! He thinks he's the coolest cowboy around. We want to thank all our family that helped put present under our tree and made this Christmas so special for all of us!

Some funny/some naughty things Hunter's been up to:

Pouring and full bottle of syrup all over my kitchen floor in a matter of seconds. Waking up and being so quiet and coloring with permanent marker all over our bathroom mirror. Stealing gum out of my purse and getting it all over himself. Telling us he wants to kick us in the bum when he gets mad at us. Coming out of his bedroom at bedtime crying and telling us we don't love him anymore because we won't lay next to him while he falls asleep. Singing songs. He absolutely loves church! A few Saturday's ago we saw Hunter's new teach for Sunday school(can you believe my baby is in Sunbeams) at Walmart, she was introducing herself to him and asking him questions. When Brian came back to the cart Hunter got supper excited and told him that he saw his sister, haha. When he woke up Sunday he kept telling me "I get to see my sister today". He's a funny kid and we love him to pieces!!