Updates on the Boys...

Tanner loves to tickle himself. It is hilarious. The other day when we were in the car we heard him saying, "tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle," just like i do to him when i tickle his feet. I turn around and he starts doing it again and he is tickling his foot. It was so funny. Gavin's thing lately is letting me know that he is mad at me. For example, he got in trouble the other day and i told him to go upstairs to his room and to shut the door. He went upstairs and i heard him say, "I am gonna be mad at you!" I said, "that is fine." He said, "I am mad now!" I said, "Good." And then he slammed his door shut. He reminds me of a teenager already(just like when i was a teen)! On the flip side of that he loves to "get me"... i will be laying on the couch and he comes over and starts tackling me, "i am gonna get you!" Then Tanner joins in and i just lay there while they jump all over me. It is fun, but only for about 10 minutes. If i let them do it all day they would.

My thing lately: I am FINALLY printing off a bunch of pics and scrapbooking them. I stopped scrapbooking after Gavin turned one year old. SOOOOO, i have a TON of catching up to do, but i finally started! I don't scrapbook with the bigger albums like most people do. I just use a binder and have 8x11 pages. It would take me FOREVER trying to get one page of scrapbooking b/c i felt like each page had to be perfect. I realized that is the reason why i put scrapbooking off for so long. I finally decided that my pages do not have to be cute and that i just needed to get it done. So, as much as i wish i could have way cute pages like everyone else's i have seen, i just can't do it. Mine are plain, but i guess at least i am getting it done, right? :)

Shane's last day of his second year is tomorrow! Crazy! We can't wait until tomorrow afternoon! Talk about no more stress and just being able to relax for awhile. My parents are coming in town on Friday and will be here for a week. Then the weekend after they leave we are gonna try and go camping!! We are very excited for that adventure!! :) Then Shane's mom and dad and brother and sister-in-law are coming to visit us! We are so excited! It will definitely be a busy and fun 3 week break!

p.s. If you have been putting off getting your family pictures done then give me a call ...it has only been about a week and a half since i last took someone's pics, but it feels like forever. I love taking pics. I will have family here, but that doesn't matter. My mom loves photography too and she would LOVE watching. We can do it anytime. :)

Expect the unexpected...

So, for family and friends who don't know, i was called as the second counselor in the Primary Presidency. I don't know what to say, other than i should have seen it coming. :) I believe i have a lot to gain and learn from this experience. I am VERY excited about the women i am working with and i am excited about gaining a greater love for children. This will be good for me. I have always thought that young women's and relief society were my niche. I always thought that if i were to get a calling it would be in one of those two areas. I should have seen this coming because whenever i have a plan set out for myself the unexpected occurs. Not that i really have a say in the calling i want, but you know what i mean. :)On the way home from church today Tanner fell asleep. Shane brought him inside and plopped him right on the kitchen counter. Here is the picture of him sleeping on the counter. Soooo cute!

What kind of mom am I?

Ashlee, your movie mom match is Freaky Friday's Tess Coleman ...
So you might not be a psychiatrist...and you most definitely haven't switched bodies with your kids (right?), but when it comes to parenting, you've got a lot in common with hardworking Tess Coleman. You're passionate and driven about your family and your career, and you do everything in your power to make sure that your family has it all.Even when you're juggling a million responsibilities, you take most things you do very seriously. But you can certainly find that kid inside and cut loose when you need to. You just have to remind yourself every once in a while that doing cartwheels in the backyard can be just as educational as homework. Give it a whirl!

I found this on my friend's blog and i had to try it. :) There was a picture to post with it and a link, but it wouldn't show up on my blog so i just copied and pasted.

Life is so good...

Swinging.
Look at this face. As soon as i saw this face i saw my brother Stephen. I have seen this look on Stephen's face too many times to count!
Playing basketball with daddy.


Our little wonderer. He is very content to hang out with himself. He is quite the opposite of Gavin.
Next i have a little journaling of some things that i realize lately and thought it would be good to journal so that my kids can read it one day and hopefully understand their mom a little more and hopefully understand the importance of it.
Life is so good right now. I am afraid to say that because it seems like when things are going good then usually trials occur to disrupt it. But i am saying it anyway. :) I am so content with where we are at in life right now. I try to remind myself everyday to enjoy every moment because i know that i will look back one day and look at these times as the best times. My parents always said that going through medical school was soooo hard, but when they look back on it now it was one of the best times of their lives. The only hard part of our life right now is our financial situation, but every dental and medical student goes through it. And then again, is it really that hard? I think we are all lucky with where we are at! I've heard people say, "i will be happy and things will be better once i have money." We have to be able to find happiness with every situation in our life, otherwise we are just fooling ourselves into thinking that money brings happiness and once we do get to that point we will be sadly disappointed. It DOES bring temporary enjoyment, but that is it. We shouldn't judge people on their money situations. We don't really know someone's situation, AND everyone prioritizes differently. Not only that, but we just shouldn't judge people on any situation. We don't really know their story so who are we to judge. I try to remind myself of this b/c it is almost impossible not to judge others for one thing or another. I don't think we can ever fully be a non-judgmental person, but it is worth aiming for.

Over the Past few days...

Here is Gavin trying to climb trees. It was so funny watching him attempt this.

Gavin is playing on the pipes that the workers left in our backyard.
Our basement is a disaster right now. Our whole basement is dug up just like this along every wall.
We have been getting our basement worked on for the past few days. I cannot wait until it is done...not only to have a nice basement, BUT for the noise to stop!!!! The first day drove me CRAZY! I had to hear a jackhammer all day long. Having to be a mom in a house where i can't hear anything but the noise of cement being pounded on is pretty insane! I have to stay home because they ask me questions and inform me of things all day. Today is the last day! Woohoo. I know the boys can't wait until it is done so that we can actually leave! One of the days they were here they left a huge pile of gravel in our driveway. They left at noon that day and so we couldn't get out of our driveway! ugh.
Tanner and Gavin have colds. I don't know how they got em. Maybe allergies? I am not sure, but i am having to give Tanner breathing treatments again b/c he sounds horrible.
Next week is the last week of school and we cannot wait! My mom and dad are coming in town and that will be a lot of fun! Gavin cannot wait to see papa and zsa zsa.

My A.M. shoot

This has got to be the CUTEST boy i have ever seen! He is darling and he was PERFECT for the camera! I think this was my favorite session i've shot so far. He was happy, good for the camera, and i LOVED his big beautiful eyes! Soooo cute! Sherrie, i hope you don't mind me posting a pic! You can check out more on ashspassion.blogspot.com

Journaling without pics... I hate posting without pics, but i am doing it this time. :)

I was asked to be the photographer at the Modest Prom held at the Kirtland Stake. They brought 4 different stakes together, i believe. I took pics for 2 hours and it was a lot of fun. I have never done anything like that before so i was a little unsure of myself, but i had a lot of fun. It brought back a lot of memories watching all of the youth dance and just have a good time. I will have to post a pic from the dance soon.
Yesterday morning Shane went to Church meetings and so i had to get the boys ready by myself. Tanner loves sticking his hand, and sometimes both hands, down his pants. He looks like a hillbilly with his little gut poking out and his hand down his pants. Of course we continually tell him to take his hand out of his pants, but he continually does it. Well, yesterday he stuck both has down his pants and pulled poop out on both! It was sick. Poor Tanner was even grossed out by it b/c he saw it and gagged.
At church yesterday i was called into the office and was asked to accept a new calling. I guess i can't "officially" say what it is until they announce it in church on Sunday. I am actually very excited about it. :) But i was surprised(but then again not so much. i will explain that later) when Brother Bills told me what they were calling me to. After he told me the calling i remember saying, "Oh, wow." hehe. Maybe my surprised comment is what made him say, "if you need time to think about it you certainly can." hehe. I said, "No, i don't need time. " :)Anyway, on to new adventures. I am making this sound bigger than it really is...it is just big to ME and if you know me really well then you already know what i am talking about.:)
For some reason the past few night Tanner tosses and turns all night long. I don't know why or what is going on, but he isn't getting enough sleep b/c he is very grumpy the past few days. He isn't teething, he hasn't been sick, but he is having a hard time sleeping. Anybody experience this? He doesn't wake up in the night crying at all, we can just hear him moving all night since his room is above ours. What is it?
Today we have the Ohio Waterproofing Company here. They are fixing our basement. It is a big project, but we can't wait to have a clean, dry, no more bugs, basement. Last night in the middle of the night at about 1:30 in the morning Shane woke me up realizing that we forgot to move all of our stuff in the basement to the middle of the floor. So, we went downstairs at 1:30 in the morning and moved it all. While we were down there we killed about 5 spiders. There are tons of dead bugs all over the carpet. It is gross, which is why i can't wait until we can get this done and over with and have a clean basement. They are putting in an E Z Breathe Ventilation system, a sump pump, and digging up the outside walls of the basement.
Something worth remembering for me: Last night Shane and I had a dance off. We were watching basketball and he said, "we should have a dance off"...now, it wasn't anything cool you see on t.v., is was probably quite opposite. It was us doing our weirdest moves we could think of. It was quite entertaining, i must say. HAHA. You had to be there to understand. :)

76 degrees and LOVIN it...

These two boys have been such a joy...They are so fun to hang out with. Life is easier when we are able to get outside and enjoy the weather. Winters here are hard...it is hard being stuck inside all the time. Now that summer has started life seems easier for me and the boys. We don't get so irritated at each other and feel a sense of freedom when we can get out. :)

This is Gavin's club house. We got a new energy efficient dryer and this is the box it came in. Gavin claimed it as his club house and plays in it everyday.
This is for you mom and dad. Here is our siding. :)
Tanner enjoyed playing hide-n-seek with Gavin. They would chase each other in and out of the club house.
Gavin loved playing in the pool today. I was surprised that he got went since the water is so cold. He would not have done that last summer! :)
Tanner LOVED having control of the water while it was on. Gavin ran through it and would scream every time and Tanner thought it was hilarious b/c he thought he was getting his big brother. :)

We've had so much fun today. Early this morning i had a photo shoot with a 4 year old girl and a 2 year old boy. They were dolls. They did such a wonderful job. Taking pics of kids is very hard, but they made it easy for me. The little girl actually LIKED posing for the camera and stayed in the positions that i put her in. WONDERFUL! The little boy was a little uneasy, but his mom was able to get a lot of smiles out of him.

After that, Auntie Holly and i and the boys went to the zoo. I was supposed to meet up with some friends, but when we were half way there i realized that i forgot the cell # my friend gave me so that i could find them since i would be late... dang it. Anyway, i ended up seeing one of them on the way out of the zoo. :) It was so hot today. I was actually HOT!! It was an amazing feeling. :)

Then we came home and let the boys play in the pool. They LOVED it. They had so much fun. The water was freezing and it took their breath away quite a few times, but it was so fun watching them.

Shane came home and we barbequed outside and then he and i went on a date at 7:30, after the boys went to bed. We drove around almost the entire time on the motorcycle. I LOVE riding on the motorcycle with him. Now that it is warm out we will definitely enjoy many more rides this summer! We also went to OUTBACK steakhouse and Holly hooked us up with food and it only cost us $5.00...can't beat that for a date! :)

I got burned, and when i saw Holly at outback she was extremely red...that was the only negative of the day. It has been so nice and i am looking forward to many more nice days this summer! :)

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

I had to grab my camera quick when i saw this scene. I thought what a cute picture of the two of them getting into trouble. They had one of my scented spray bottles, it was opened, and they almost dumped it all over this basket that i use as a prop. I have to keep a close eye on them b/c they are always getting into trouble. :) The other one is just a cute pic i captured of him cuddling his blanky. He LOVES his blanky and drags it around the house all morning, during cartoon time, in the evenings, and when he is cold.

Stepping into the light....

Gavin and Tanner were amazed by the light that was beaming down on them from a window at the top of our stairs. They would put their hands in the light and thought it was so cool. Gavin liked stepping into the light. Tanner was amazed by it. He would put his hand into the light and just slowly move his hand just staring at it in amazement.They had fun with it for about 15 minutes.

Tanner's anger issues...

Tanner doesn't really have anger issues...hehe. Just when his brother teases him. :) Tanner was on the swing and Gavin was pushing him and he did not want to be pushed. This is the face he made when he realized that Gavin was doing it. He got ticked and started screaming. HAHA...these boys are so funny. Lately they like to wrestle each other. Tanner will go lay on Gavin and then Gavin will roll on him. It is so funny. Tanner gets mad at Gavin a lot b/c Gavin teases A LOT. Tanner learned that the only thing he can do back to Gavin to make him stop is to bite him. I know, not a good thing. I think to myself, he is just defending himself, but it is still unacceptable. So, i let him know not to bite, but he still does it, i just try to stop it before be actually bites down. One day he bit Gavin's bum! Yes, his bum. Gavin cried and i felt so bad for him. I don't know how he bit his bum though. I am still boggled by it b/c where Gavin was sitting compared to where Tanner was i just didn't see how he could have done it, BUT he found a way.

Friends and Fun...

Yesterday i had over a bunch of friends. I think i called everyone i could think of and even posted it on my blog in case i forgot to call anyone. Anyway, i had a good turn out and it was so fun to hang out with all the girls. At first i didn't think i was going to be able to accomodate everyone...it was pretty crowded, but then i decided that it was fun that way. :) The kids had a lot of fun in the backyard just running, screamin, hunting, looking for rollie pollies, riding bikes, and eating. :) This pic isn't from yesterday, it was actually a few nights ago when the boys were outside playing. Gavin loves playing with his basketball hoop.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Tanner and Auntie Holly.
I love Gavin's eyes. I can't get enough of them.
Here is Gavin watching television.
Here is Gavin's favorite pose for the camera. :)
Here he is posing different for me. He is actually starting to WANT to pose for me! That is groundbreaking! :)

It is nice today and this whole week is supposed to be great! Gavin wanted me to take pics of him today. The pose where he is scrunching up his face is the one that he kept asking me to take pics of... "mom, take another picture like this." It was so funny. Auntie Holly came over today and she was playing with Tanner and they were being so funny. I also made tons of phone calls today. Anyone who didn't receive a phone call from me, i am inviting whoever can come over...You can start coming over at 10:30 tomorrow morning. We are all just going to hang out while the kids play in the backyard. Bring a sack lunch for your kids in case they get hungry! :) I am inviting everyone so hopefully i can accomodate everyone! :) It will be fun and i have been meaning to invite over everyone for awhile! :)

Holy Hannah Montana....

Today i fixed the Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Salad and guacamole, but instead of fixing it as a salad we made them into Burrito's. This is the BEST DANG meal i have EVER made! Sooooooooooo GOOD. I got it off of Hatsuho's blog. It took awhile to prepare it, BUT it was so worth it. Shane loved it so much that he wouldn't stop eating. I thought he was going to make himself sick and explode. Seriously, it was better than any Mexican Restaurant i have ever been to, except Cafe Rio of course.... Anyway, I was so proud of myself for making it turn out so good. It was DELICIOUS. This will be an all time favorite in our house from now on AND will be fixed on special occasions for generations to come!!! :)

3-on-3

Yesterday Shane had a 3-on-3 basketball tournament. It went from 10:00a.m. to 2:00p.m. It went really well. He and his team won the championship. They played really well. The kids had a lot of fun running around the gym. They also had a padded gymnastics trampoline type of thing there that the kids jumped on a lot! It was nice for me b/c it kept Gavin busy the entire time.

The mask...

Here is Tanner's breathing mask that is hooked up to a machine...it pumps out moisture with a solution in it and he usually hates it, but we were able to distract him during this treatment and he did really good.

Another run to the ER...(warning: lots of info.)

Last night we decided to call our pediatrician because Tanner seemed to be wheezing a bit too loud. They were closed so we couldn't bring him into their office, so the doctor wanted to hear Tanner breath over the phone. She then told me that he is breathing too fast and that we need to go to Urgent Care(just like the ER, but faster) to get him checked. We went in and while i am waiting one of my friend's from church walked in with her son. It was nice seeing her b/c she is so nice and brings a smile to my face. Anyway, the doctor checked his breathing and they must have thought it was worth rushing to figure out his problem b/c right after they checked him we were in and out quickly. Then again, the hospitals here are exceptional so it could just be that. They hooked him up to a breathing machine, which he did not like at all. After he was done with that treatment he completely cleared up. He was still breathing a bit fast, BUT he sounded 100 times better. They did a chest x-ray on him and found that he had a vital infection that couldn't be helped with anti-biotics...Baby bronchitis. They are making him take steroids for the next 3 days, which helps with inflammation. They also gave us a breathing machine. With as many times as we have been to the ER, and just to the hospital since Tanner was born i would say that i have learned a lot more about medical stuff, aside from what i have learned from my dad since he is a doctor. I am not saying that i know a lot, but i have always wanted to be a doctor so being exposed to the medical field all my life has been interesting. I went with my dad to work quite a few times in highschool. I would get dressed in scrubs, put the mask on, everything, and then i was able to go into surgery with him and watch different procedures... c-section(unfortunately this lady was one of those mom's that did drugs the whole pregnancy so she was zonked out while they were doing the c-section b/c she was high on something. sad.), breast implants, liposuction, back surgery, someone getting their tonsils out, epidurals(definitely doesn't hurt as bad as it looks) being done, and not only that, but i have had my average share of hospital stays. Anyway, it was fun watching my dad do the aneasthesia. He was so good at it and so good with his patients. For awhile, i wanted to be a nurse anesthetist, but i could never do it b/c i am not designed to understand any science beyond basic biology. It is too difficult for me. I am more of the "arts" type of girl. Anyway, by far the grossest surgery i ever watched were the breast implants being put in. I could handle watching surgery just fine, and i was proud of myself for that. I thought i was tough and strong, but as i was watching this one i noticed myself about to faint. I started seeing white dots all over and started feeling a bit tingly all over and a bit dizzy. My dad noticed and had the nurse take me out of the surgery room so that i could sit down for a few minutes. It truly was a sick and brutal surgery. uck. Well, i just blabbed a lot. I never wrote this down in my journal so now at least i have it.

Updates...

We saw a kitty so Gavin was watching it and trying to call it over to him.

He just soaked himself with the water bottle. He has such a big belly ever since they put his bowels back in him.... :)
Watching the birds fly in the sky.
He was very interested in everything going on up above.

Gavin has done quite a few things lately worth taking note of. When we were packing up the car last week i turn around and there is Gavin peeing on our cement. Where did he get that from? I don't know how he did that as fast as he did without me even noticing! It was as if i turned my back and it became a race for him to get it done and over with without me noticing. THEN, i went upstairs this morning and there he was in the bathroom, standing outside the bathtub peeing in it!! Oh my gosh! Again, i was like, "What are you doing!?!?!" All he could say was, "sorry mom, i won't do it again." I was thinking, what made him THINK to do that in the first place? :)

Poor little Tanner has breathing problems whenever he gets a runny or stuffy nose. He wheezes really bad and coughs in the night. I feel so bad for him. He was scaring me a lot today b/c it seemed like he was working too hard to try and breathe. I give him his breathing treatment and it only lasts for about 10 minutes and then he is breathing heavy again.

Today i did a photoshoot for my friend. Her little boy is one year old and is sooo cute. Taking pics of little kids is very hard, but it is so fun at the same time.

Shane has about 3 weeks left of his last semester of his second year. We are so excited. He doesn't get the whole summer off like last summer, but he does get 3 weeks off in May and another 3 off in July. For 2 weeks out of the 3 during both breaks we will be BUSY. We have family coming to see us for 2 out of the 3 weeks in May and then in July we will be going on vacation basking in the warm hot sun for 2 weeks.

Love is in the AiR...

Luckily i had my camera because as soon as we entered the nature park this crane was there. I snapped the pic and then he took off.

Spring is definitely here. When we went out to the Nature Park on Saturday and the drive was sooooo nice. We could tell everyone was way excited about the warm weather. We could smell barbeque, those who have them were getting out there convertibles and their nice sports cars and stylishly driving those around, everyone was outside biking, walking, running, and rollerblading...It was as if people here hadn't seen the sun in ages... And we haven't so i guess that explains it! :) Anyway, i am so excited about the warmth. I am excited about taking more pics outside rather than inside!!!!! :) I am excited about letting the kids play outside all the time and not being stuck inside! I am excited about being able to run outside again, i am excited about barbeques and getting some sun and going on vacations and swimming and going to the parks, hearing the birds sing their songs every morning, doing yard work(i am determined to have a nice yard this year!), having fun with my boys and hubby, and etc.

Spring Break and General Conference Weekend...

Gavin's new bike!
down to watch General Conference the boys jumped on Shane and just wanted to wrestle the entire time! It was hard to keep them off of there daddy. They love him so much.

We were outside A LOT this past week! It has been so enjoyable!
Look at these sad sad faces. It was time to go inside and these boys were not happy! :)

This last week has been so enjoyable having Shane home with us. We have so enjoyed our time together and we were sad that Shane had to go back to school already, but excited b/c we realize that it will be over with in about 4 weeks! :) Then we are half way done with school! Holy moly!

Anyway, over spring break we went and got Gavin a new bike. He loves it and wants to ride it in the house when we aren't outside. The weather has been fabulous and we made another visit to the Metropark on SOM center...Shane rollerbladed and i ran. We love it out there. We didn't go anywhere for Spring break, we just stayed around here, but we really found it relaxing. General Conference was great. What an historic event. I realized how much i miss President Hinckley. I missed his presence in the conference center. It was an awesome conference. I always feel that there are certain messages meant for me to hear during General Conference. There were a few that really touched me more than others, but they were all great to listen to. I loved the spirit that i felt watching this General Conference. I always love it. I am so lucky to be a part of this church.