A Happy Home is Filled with Love and Laughter

New Shelves in the Garage

Beej & Chris

One of my favorite qualities of BJ is how organized he is in everything he does (school, work, scouts, and our house). I used to tease him about how he saved all the receipts of the rent we paid while we were living at the U of U apartments. He would staple the receipt and put the month and year above each receipt. I would also find receipts tucked in our dvd's that he had bought years ago. It was really interesting to see how much they cost when he was working at shopko as opposed to how much they cost now. Anyway- BJ has been wanting to organize the garage for awhile now. He got a few supplies for Christmas so as soon as the weather started to warm up and he got a free day, he set out on his project.

BJ spent a few hours outside measuring, marking, and making a layout to what he wanted done in the garage. I was very impressed! Here is the before shot.

BJ e-mailed his dad, brother, and my dad to request more hands on the job. Everyone was able to come except for JC- but I know JC would have been there if he could have because he is always helping us out!! Here is the progress after a few hours of work.

POWER TOOLS! Gotta love it!

My dad and BJ

Everyone took turns cutting the wood. But my brother Nathan was given the title of the "pencil man". They kept breaking the pencil and losing them so he kept a good sharp one on hand at all times :) Good job Nate!

We then had a quick dominoes pizza break. YUMMMY!

Yay- almost finished!

I didn't get a picture of BJ's brother Spencer, but he helped out a lot as well. Not only did he help them with cutting the wood, but he kept Kaylee entertained. Kaylee loves her uncle Spencer. :)

Nate cleaning up

Kaylee to Nate, "You missed a spot."

All finished! We have already filled up all of the shelves! Thanks again to everyone that came and helped. We really really appreciate it!!

Easter 2011

Beej & Chris

Kaylee sure got spoiled this Easter and participated in 4 Easter egg hunts...that is right 4! Here is the overview of our Easter celebrations this year.

After convincing BJ we gathered our eggs and started the process of dying eggs with Kaylee. She thought it was soo cool to see the egg disappear into the dye. She did try to eat the egg once but for the most part was content in just stirring the eggs while watching daddy color them. BJ then watched basketball while I finished dying my Easter eggs. Yes- I know. I am totally a kid at heart!

Saturday we started out the morning with the Woods Cross Easter egg hunt that was held at the elementary school. Once the bell sounded the kids could go out and get 3 eggs but then had to come back ensuring all the kids got at least 3 eggs. They then sounded the bell again and let the kids go out and get the rest of the eggs. Kaylee did not like having to come back after getting only 3 eggs. It didn't help that it took forever for all the kids to come back so Kaylee was crying and stretching out her arms towards the eggs waiting to go back out. Needless to say she really enjoyed her first true Easter egg hunt.

After the hunt we took Kaylee inside to meet the Easter bunny. Kaylee was very very afraid of the Easter bunny just like Santa Clause. Even though it makes me sooo sad to see Kaylee cry and be upset, these pictures just crack me up. I don't know about everyone else- but I personally think the Easter bunny looks a little scary myself.

"Look daddy, let's go see the Easter bunny!"

"Who is this guy and why does he look so funny?"

"MoM, Save me!"

"I changed my mind dad, let's go home instead!!"

We then headed up to Idaho to Great Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house for a BBQ and Easter egg hunt. My grandma assigned everyone a number (including BJ and I) so everyone got an equal amount of Easter eggs. This was also very difficult for Kaylee because she wanted to pick up all the eggs and didn't understand that only some of them were for her. We ended up letting her pick them up and would just sneak them back onto the grass while she walked away. lol

We had a fun time eating hot dogs, hamburgers and salads in the nice warm weather. I also got to spend some time just talking with my grandma Scott which I love. It was just a fun day.

Sunday morning we started out the day by having BJ explain to Kaylee why we celebrate Easter. I know she doesn't quite understand all that he said but I think it is really important to talk about it instead of getting too caught up in the worldly celebrations. BJ did a wonderful job explaining the sacrifices Jesus Christ has made for us and just set the mood for a wonderful Sabbath day.

We then let Kaylee find the Easter eggs that the Easter bunny hid from her. She cracked open one of the eggs and stuffed all the jelly beans in her mouth. lol Needless to say- she ate a lot of treats that day.

We then had a wonderful meeting at church with a lot of spiritual uplifting talks and lessons about Christ that continued to set the mood for Easter. After which we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house for dinner and ANOTHER Easter egg hunt! We ate a wonderful meal (ham, jello, rolls, and funeral potatoes) and then let some of the kiddo's take naps while the grown ups did an Easter egg hunt out back. BJ, Nate (my little bro) and I filled the eggs and then I hid them out in the back. They found them fairly quickly with a few harder than others, but overall I think I did a good job :) Once Kaylee and Desiree (Kaylee's cousin) woke up, we got some pictures of the grand kids and then let the kids do their egg hunt out front. Kaylee's cousins Brooklyn and Carson found the eggs that BJ hid in the immediate front yard while Desiree, Logan, and Kaylee found some easier eggs on the side of the house in the front yard.

We had a busy weekend for sure, but we enjoyed every minute of it!

32 weeks and positive for Group B Strep :(

Beej & Chris

Just got back from the doctors office and feeling kind of down. Apparently I tested positive for Group B Strep so I will need to get an antibiotic at least 4 hours before giving birth and then every 4 hours until I have the baby. It may not seem like a big deal to some, but BJ and I had just talked about our "dream birth" after our Lamaze class this last Tuesday and had decided to stay at home as long as possible before going into the hospital. After finding out I am positive for Group B Strep I have so many concerns and worries.
- It obviously varies with each person and each pregnancy, but your second birth tends to be about 1/2 as long as your first. Since my labor with Kaylee was 10 1/2 hours long that would mean this labor could be in the 5 hour range which doesn't give me very long at all before I need to be hooked up to an IV getting my antibiotic. (My OB said they could run the antibiotic in about 1/2 hour but sometimes the Penicillin burns so going slower is better).
- At our Lamaze class they told us that since my water broke with my first pregnancy that I have a 50% chance of my water breaking again with this pregnancy. If my water breaks we will just go straight in and get the antibiotic asap. But if my water doesn't break I am just concerned about when to go into the hospital. Before finding out I was positive for Group B Strep as I stated above, we planned on staying home for a while. Now- I don't know when to go in. With Kaylee even after my water broke, it took a good hour 1/2 before contractions even started and then another little bit before it was consistent and somewhat painful. Not to mention I have been feeling braxton hicks contractions a ton with this pregnancy and some of it is pretty uncomfortable. So how will I know when to go in? How long is my labor going to be? Oh- I wish I knew those questions because then I could just stay home until I absolutely had to go in!
The reasons why I want to stay home for a while before going to the hospital is....
- I am so much more comfortable in my own home.
- I can eat and drink and take a bath whenever I want
- If I come into the hospital dilated to a 7 and doing good with my Lamaze techniques then the nurses will see how well I am doing and not continue to question me or push for an epidural.
- I am worried about being able to move around and deal with the pain while being hooked up to an IV for fluids and for my antibiotic.
- Walking around the hospital and having the nurses look at me as I pass their desk a million times or saying things like, "keep it up- you are doing good" or "you are going around again?" is just distracting and makes me want to stay in my room. I know they mean well but I am just a worrier and I will just be worried how distracting I am to them or how annoying it must be to them to have us walk by them over and over again (this is how I felt as I walked around at Lakeview while laboring with Kaylee).

Then there is the chance that I will develop thrush from the antibiotics causing pain as I try to breastfeed. I am planning on taking a probiotic or at least some yogurt a few days before my due date to help prevent that but who really knows when I will have this baby.

Ugh I am just frustrated. Here is to hoping my water breaks at home again and that my nurses are understanding, and that I get there in time to get my antibiotic but don't feel restricted with my IV.

Just because...

Beej & Chris

I love my curious Kaylee girl

I was setting up the bassinet/co-sleeper with the help of Kaylee of course. She decided it would be fun to try it out herself.

"You can't see me mom!"

After she played in her "secret hiding place" she decided to put her dolls in the bassinet to sleep. I know it will be an adjustment, but I am really excited for Kaylee to meet her little baby brother and to see how much of a helper she will be.

Kaylee and Mommy Time

Beej & Chris

Last Friday Kaylee was being super duper whiny and it was driving me crazy. I can handle the screaming and crying but the whining is just too much for me. I decided it was a good day to get out of the house and use our passes to the Discovery Gateway in Salt Lake.

Kaylee and I had soo much fun! I really enjoy going out and playing with Kaylee all on my own. It is just fun to have quality time together- just the two of us. Plus we can go whenever we want and leave whenever we want.

Kaylee is definitely a social butterfly and makes friends wherever she goes. She was even sharing the baby dolls with this little boy (I'm sure his mom was pretty excited about that).

The best part about this age is that when I say it is time to go, Kaylee just waved her hand and said "bye bye" and we left without a single tear. I know this will change soon, so I am enjoying it while I can.

We stopped at Wendy's on the way home and then set up a blanket in the front room for a picnic. Kaylee enjoyed the fries but refused to even try a bite of the frosty. ha ha-silly girl.

The day that started out with frustration and me losing my patience, ended up being such a fun day I will always remember. I love spending time with my Kaylee girl!!! How great is it to be a mom?!

Playdate with Kaylee's best friend Brinlee

Beej & Chris

A few weeks ago while I was watching Brinlee (my friend Challae's daughter) we decided to go over to the park across the street from my house and had a blast!

They did pretty good at sharing the stroller. But when I put Kaylee in front she would just lay on Brinlee and squish her, so we kept Brinlee in front. :)

The video below shows how much these girls loved the swing. They would just talk and talk to each other and smile and giggle.

These girls were at the park and really loved playing with Kaylee and Brinlee. At first though they kept jumping on top of this table saying "she's going to get us!" and Kaylee would run and chase them.