Sydney Is One!

Sydney turned one this last week. It was so amazing to me that my little baby is growing up so fast! We had a little gathering of just a few family members and had some ice cream and cake. Dan made a really cute cake for the occasion and Sydney had a lot of fun! Ethan got to play with his cousins and it was a great time for all.

This is my baby at the hospital...

We had such a fun time...look at the cutie now!

Halloween 2010

I just wanted to write a quick post about this Halloween. It was Sydney's first one! Ethan and Sydney both had a great time despite the weather. We got them all dressed up and ready to go and we went to a trunk or treat/party at my parents' ward. It was really fun! We even got to meet up with the Moffats while we were there. The kids just loved playing and having fun with each other. Here are a few pictures. Ethan's costume had to have his "fire dog" Jasper in it, at least for the pictures on the porch. I love my kids and I'm glad they had a great time. I also loved that they share their candy with me.

Busy Summer Already!

Well, here we are and it's only mid-June and we've had quite the busy summer. Ethan graduated preschool on June 3. They had the kids do a cute little program and then had cake. Ethan has changed so much since he started there! They really helped him grow so much! We even went to Chili's afterward to celebrate. He had to wear his graduation hat into the restaurant too so "everybody could see it." It was cute.

The day after preschool graduation, We took our first trip to the zoo for the season. Seriously people, zoo memberships are awesome! Anyway, we went to the bird show and Ethan loved it! We walked around and he even went on the carousel for the first time by himself. My little man is growing up.

On Sunday, we celebrated a very special day for Ethan. He turned five years old! I can't believe it! On Saturday, We celebrated his birthday with a few close friends and family at a cute place by our house called Kangaroo Zoo. It's basically this big place full of huge inflatable bouncers with slides, etc. Ethan and the other kids loved it! He didn't stop moving like the whole time we were there. He had a Wall-E cake and we got the Cosmos party room. There was even a guy there doing balloon tying for the kids. It was a really great time. I highly recommend the "location" birthday parties if you can find a reasonable price. It was so much less stressful and it was so fun for the kids, and for me too...I went down one of the slides once myself.

Today is also my Danny's birthday. He's 35 today...I still love him more everyday than the last. Happy birthday honey! I love you!

Stuff

I haven't just blogged lately, so I thought I would do a quick post. Dan is at work and both kids are asleep so it's one of the rare times that I actually have a completely quiet house. In fact, the only thing I can hear currently is the sound of the keyboard as I type.

Today was kind of a rough day for me. I'm not sure if it's the postpartum hitting or the fact that I haven't really seen the sun out today, but it was just one of those days where everything is annoying, you feel like you want to cry, and you just want to get in bed and hide to get away from it all until tomorrow...if the sun happens to peek through the clouds. I knew I had to do something about it, especially since Dan was working tonight. I knew I had to change my attitude somehow. I decided when Dan got up from sleeping (he worked last night too) that I would go beat the crap out of myself at the gym. I did and it worked. I feel so much better! I love the endorphin high that I get after working out, and boy did I really work out this time, weights, cardio, the whole deal. I'm going to be feeling it tomorrow, but it's a good pain.

As far as what is going on with us, things are pretty normal around here. We blessed Sydney in sacarament meeting on the 7th and it was really nice. Some family and a couple of friends were able to come. Both of my brothers were able to stand in the circle, along with the grandpas, Dan's brother Ben, and our friend Moby. Sydney is growing so much and changing so much every day. She really is a happy baby. Give her food, make sure she's not messy, and cuddle with her every now and then and she's happy. It's so fun to have my little girl. She is so different from Ethan. She loves to cuddle and Ethan hated it. He was always afraid he was missing something going on around him. He would always push away when I would try to cuddle him so he could see what was going on. Sydney, on the other hand, is content just to be with Mommy. I love it.

Ethan is doing so well in school. I'm SO proud of him. He has wonderful teachers in his preschool class that are working with him on some of his issues with the social aspects of school. I love them and am so grateful for them. He comes home with so many art projects that our refrigerator is always sporting something new. I really love it. He can write his name and is learning to use scissors. He is getting pretty good at that. He loves to sing all the songs and is so funny with the things he says sometimes. The other day, they sang "The Wheels On The Bus" at school and he sang it all the way home. When he got to the verse about the Mommys on the bus going, "Shh, shh, shh." he said, while pointing to me, "The yous on the bus go shh, shh, shh." It was cute and it made me laugh so much. He has many friends and is relating well to the classroom time. I'm just so proud of how much he has accomplished in such a short time being in that school.

Dan is working a lot, but that's a good thing. He recently started working part time on one or two days a week with a temporary agency. His overtime was cut due to overstaffing at his regular job, so this fills in the gap for us. It's flexible and the money is good, so we're happy with it. He is also gaining a lot of experience in things he doesn't normally do, so it's been really nice. I love Dan and I'm so grateful he works so hard for our family.

As far as anything else goes, we did our taxes and we're getting something back, so that's a good thing. I've been working as much as I can, but it has been slow, so the extra money to do something a little fun will be nice. I'm fully recovered from my gall bladder surgery. I'm glad it's out, but I'm sick of being the expensive one in the family. Hopefully my expensive medical stuff is done for the year. I think I was having attacks during my pregnancy but didn't know what it was. Finally, after one trip to the Instacare and another trip to the ER in January, we figured it out and I saw the surgeon. Surgery was good. It went well and I'm happy to be able to eat again.

February is shaping up to be pretty busy for us. We had Sydney's blessing the first week, we had my nephew Logan's missionary farewell this past Sunday, and we have my other nephew Andrew's homecoming this coming Sunday. Hopefully the ward doesn't think we're inactive. We're not, we just have a huge family. I'm grateful we get to have this fun time with our family though.

We've been busy, but hopefully that won't keep me too far from the blogging world. I need to do it more often than I have been.

How Have We Been?

Good. Things are going pretty well at our house. Since I last posted my little boy turned four, he went in for his checkup for the year, Dan worked 63 hours in one week, we had a family reunion, and baby is still growing.

Ethan turned four on June 20. I can't believe he's already that old! He had a great time at his party. We invited all his little friends and I reserved the church, our house is not really built for parties, not a lot of room. Originally, we were going to have the party outside at the church because there is a lot of shade. Well, for the first time in four years, it poured on his birthday. I was so glad we had a backup plan of the cultural hall inside. When I was first looking at party locations, I wanted to get a pavilion at a park. As luck would have it, all pavilions in all of Salt Lake were booked for every weekend in June. At the time, I was disappointed, but the joke was on them. We were nice and dry and they were huddled under the pavilion with no backup plan.

Here are some pictures from the party:



Last week, Ethan went in for his checkup. All went well! This is the first time he hasn't been scared to go to the doctor. He talks about the doctor all the time and how they make you feel better. I didn't realize it at the time, but the broken toe incident really helped him understand that they're there to help you. Ethan is growing normally. He's still really big for his age, but at least he's proportional. It was funny, the doctor checked his ears. To get him to hold still, I told him the doctor had to see if there were any monsters in them. After the verdict of no monsters in his ears, he had to check the doctor's ears too to see if there were "monsters in there." I asked him if there were any in there and he said, "Yeah, scary ones." It was funny. He also had to look for his heartbeat using the stethoscope and wanted to know what all the doctors gadgets were. He even wanted to sit up on the exam table. It was really funny.

I'm SO glad last week is done and we are on to the nice holiday week. Dan worked a ton of hours last week. He was so tired. It was great for us to get the overtime though. He works so hard for everything to make our family secure. I really appreciate that. I know it's hard for him sometimes, but he always just does the most he can, which is usually way more than I would ever be able to do!

We also had a family reunion this past week. It was for the Perkins side of the family, which is Dan's grandmother's family on his mom's side. Since it was his mom's family's turn to plan and organize the reunion it was up to us to take over. Dan's sister, Lauri, spearheaded the operation. We all had a great time. A bunch of us made some things for the family raffle and I won a baby afghan that my sister-in-law, Lisa, crocheted. I crocheted some baby sweaters/hat sets and a place mat set. It was our first pink thing for the baby! I was excited. They had a cake walk, games, a playground for the kids, and food and visiting. It was a really great time. Ethan was so tired by the end of the day!

Here are some pics from the reunion:


Since we were all together, Dan's brothers and sisters and some of the nieces and nephews decided to go to a movie. We got a couple of sitters for the littlest ones and off we went to Transformers. I noticed about halfway through the movie that the baby was kicking a lot. I finally realized that she wasn't kicking...she was jumping, every time there was a huge crash or explosion. She may come out shell shocked. We shall see.

Anyway, there was a lot going on these past couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to a wonderful July 4 with family this weekend. It's one of my favorite holidays. We're going to the Kaysville parade in the morning, barbecue in the afternoon at my aunt's house, and then fireworks in Kaysville that night. Should be a great time!

Until next time...

Rascal Flatts 2009

We had SO much fun! Jenny, Julia, Elisa, and I went to dinner at Crown Burger first and then walked over to the ESA for the concert. When we originally got there, we didn't have seats together, but we were able to get upgraded and got to sit together...on the front row. We were on the side, but still! It was awesome! We sang, we danced, we screamed! Julia even ended up with a couple of balloons from the show and both Julia and Elisa got to give Gary high five! We had so much fun! Here are some pics from the show.

What A Great Day!

Today was truly one of those days that just went well. Debi invited us to go to a free movie today at the dollar theater her uncle owns in Sandy. It was so fun! We went to see Bolt, which I wasn't sure Ethan would be able to sit through, but he actually did really well. He enjoyed the movie and the free popcorn! Thanks Debi for a great time!

Ethan did so well with the potty thing today. I'm sure there will be good days and bad days until he finally gets it down, but today was definitely a good day. Basically, my strategy is still underwear all day, except naps and bed time, using the potty box as a reward for going, and asking him like every five seconds until he gets annoyed if he has to go potty. I'll wear him down eventually!

Oh, the other thing...I get to go see Rascal Flatts tomorrow night! I'm so excited. It's funny, it's kind of the week of concerts. The Celine concert that was supposed to be in November got rescheduled for this week so I get two concerts in one week. How cool is that! I'll update more on those later. It should be really fun tomorrow. I'm going with my sister-in-law, Elisa, and Jenny. Jenny is also bringing her daughter, Julia. Should be a really fun time.

Adjustments

This week thus far has been full of adjustments. I started my cycle on Sunday so I went in on Tuesday for my blood draw and glucose test. I hate the glucose test! You have to fast and then drink this orange soda that basically is like drinking syrup. I made it to the doctor though, thanks to Dan. I got my blood taken and now we're waiting. I should have the results soon. The tested me for a few things, basically they want to see where I'm at with my hormones. I also started on Metformin on Tuesday. It's a diabetes drug that will help with PCOS symptoms and get my body to do what it's supposed to do. However, you have to work up to the full dose, gradually working it in because, as I found out the hard way, you'll get sick if you don't. It's bearable, but just barely. I talked to the nurse this morning and she gave me instructions on how to ramp up the dose and how quickly to do it. I think it will help.

Also, I'm a genius! I've been working on potty training Ethan for a long time. My big problem was that he just doesn't care if he sits in his own filth. Pull-Ups and diapers are too comfortable and underwear leaked everywhere when we tried it and made him feel bad because he made a mess on the floor. Solution? Put the underwear UNDER the Pull-Ups. That way he can feel when he has had an accident and start to care that he's wet/dirty, but I'm not scrubbing the floors/couches/rugs and washing clothing every five minutes. I think this may work. I'm hoping. Maybe some of you who are having similar troubles with potty training could try this and let me know how it works for you. So far so good here. Ethan has the boosted confidence of being a "big boy" by wearing underwear, but he's not getting upset and discouraged when he has an accident. I think that was the major hurdle for us. He didn't want to try because he didn't think he could do it. He just needs some confidence. I'll let you know how this latest approach works as the days roll on for us.

Finally, I'm excited to be basically over my cold! This ends the week plus quarantine. I can finally go out and have some fun again. Ethan and I are going to hang out with Jenny and the kids tomorrow. He has really missed them. I think it will be fun. I've missed hanging out with Jenny too! I'm just happy to be healthy again.

Where Have I Been?

Well, let's see. It's been a little while since I posted. Part of that is because I've been sick all week long! Yay for me! Thank goodness for takeout...I mean seriously, when you are sick you just don't want to do anything, but there's this thing...kids like to eat their meals. Needless to say our family took full advantage of takeout this week. Hopefully things are back to normal soon. I'm still sick, but I'm not hacking up a lung, so we're good here.

On the fertility front, things are in a waiting pattern as of now. I think I'll be starting my cycle soon so that means I get to go in for that blood draw sometime this week. We're doing it on day 3 to see what my hormone levels are. I also get to take the glucose test. I hate that test. I don't think I'll be able to drink orange soda for a while after I do it. That stuff is NASTY!

Jenny and I were talking about the whole PCOS diagnosis thing the other day. She brought up the fact that maybe it was something that needed to happen. I tend to agree. While it's not fun dealing with the issues, I'm sure I've had these issues for quite some time, not just recently. I would've had to deal with them sooner or later. PCOS can cause other problems down the road like a higher risk for uteran cancer, diabetes, etc. I don't want to go down that road. I'd much rather manage it now and avoid that whole thing. I think I am blessed.

A lot of times, people only think they're "blessed" if good things are happening to them. As I've grown older, and I hope wiser, I've come to see that's not the case at all. We're blessed all the time, even when things are bad. Heavenly Father is always there to help us and lift us when we need it. He blesses us in the good times, but he also blesses us in the bad times. I think I'm blessed to have this diagnosis. At least I know what's wrong and I can attempt to fix it. I will be healthier when all of this is finished. It's like the bible says, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." (Eccl. 3:1). Is it my season yet? Well, not quite yet, but there are steps to be taken in everything. This is just a step along in my life. It's not my WHOLE life.

Speaking of life, today we finally got out of the house! We had a family party at Dan's dad's house with the whole Hufstetler side of the family. We also had a baby shower for my niece who is due in a few weeks. She got so many cute things for the baby! I crocheted a sweater and hat for her. It's similar to the one I did for Rachel's baby, but the flowers are a bit different. Anyway, it was nice to be out of the house and hanging out with the family. I'm grateful that they've truly become my family. I feel comfortable around them. I love them. They love me and have accepted me, which is a great feeling. I know people don't always have warm fuzzies for their in laws, so it's really nice for us. Ethan had a great time. He loves playing with his cousins. He played so hard he actually fell asleep on the way home. It was so nice. I just brought him home and put him to bed.

All in all, it was a good day. I was blessed today.

Chuck E. Cheese's....Where A Kid Can Be A Kid & Mom Can Get A Break

Today was a pretty good day. I got great news from a friend of mine, Ethan and I got out of the house, and we had a great time with Jenny and the kids at Chuck E. Cheese. It was really fun! I was surprised by how much they have that Ethan could actually do. They had tons of games and things that were perfect for his age group. We had a really great time! If you want to see pictures, go here. I forgot my camera and Jenny had hers so she got some cute pics of the kids having a blast.

Ethan ran and played a ton. His favorite game was one where you would try to catch ping pong ball bees and put them in a honey pot. He loved the singing characters on stage...albeit from a distance. He loved that they were singing. I tried to get him to go up closer saying that they were robots and it was okay. He said, "I can't a robot!" and covered his eyes so we ended that there.

It has been rough this winter being cooped up in the house with no way for Ethan to run off his energy...except for running laps around our house. It was so nice to get out and hang with Jenny and the kids. We've all been busy as of late. Now that things have started to calm down a bit and the holidays are over, I'm glad to be somewhat back to the routine of seeing friends again.

All in all, it was a good day.

Just Drive Up...Have A Coke If You're Thirsty

I decided to write just a bit today. What a day. Nothing really unusual, but a cranky husband combined with not enough sleep equals beating the crap out of him (in my head people...no abuse here) at the gym. After that, I was surprisingly calm...imagine that. Anyway, after my workout Dan went to work and Ethan and I spent time together here at home. We watched American Idol and then...insert dramatic pause here...it was time for his bed time! Oh glorious day! I think you love your children more when they're asleep sometimes...

While surfing the Internet after Ethan went to bed, I found some videos online that some of my friends made in high school that my friend, Mikey, posted on Youtube. I watched a bunch of them and suddenly my mood was just a spark brighter. I was brought back to the days of walking to Sinclair for lunch to get a Coke and a hot dog and when my biggest problem was whether or not I had a ride somewhere. Back in those days, Jenny, Moby, Mikey, and I hung out a lot. I have some really great memories of those times. I'm so glad I found those videos. What a great reminder of the days before mortgage payments, student loans, and kids. All I had to worry about then was boys, Coke, and whether or not my parents would let me take our well worn station wagon on the weekend. I love my life now, but sometimes I really miss those moments. At least they're frozen in time in my memory.

Week 1 Down

Well last week was the first full week of the new year. I have to say that it went pretty well for me. I worked out, made better food choices, and lost seven pounds! I know this will slow down after the first few weeks of being healthy, but I'm going to enjoy it while I can. I'm excited. This time, for me, it's less about losing weight as it is feeling better. I want to feel better. I want to be healthy when I'm old. I want to be able to not be fragile and having arthritis problems when I get older. I think being healthier will accomplish this.

I realized that I haven't posted anything on Christmas or New Year's yet either. We really had a pretty good Christmas. We kept it small this year and Santa brought Ethan some wonderful things. He got a train set that he absolutely loves. He also got boring clothes and jammies from Mom and Dad. He's really starting to grow up. I just wish he would potty train. We're working on that though...hopefully it will be done soon.

On New Year's we went to Jenny and Moby's house. It was fun, so relaxing. The kids played and played. Ethan got to wrestle around with Jack and they both loved it. We played Guitar Hero and ate yummy ham and funeral potatoes that Jenny made. All in all, it was a great night. We had a lot of fun.

Dan is doing well too. He has been working a lot, but what else is new. He's still working less now than when he was working in Home Care though. That's definitely a good thing. 60 hour work weeks combined with full time school was really hard on everyone. He's really liking his job as a nurse at the new Intermountain Medical Center. He works on the cardiac floor, but sometimes gets pulled to help out on other floors if they need him. It has been good for his health too. They did a study and found that nurses walk the equivalent of six miles each shift they work, so you do the math...

Anyway, I guess that's it for now. Once I get my camera downloaded I'll probably be posting those precious Christmas pictures. Until next time...

When It Rains...

It pours...we've all heard that statement before. It seem to be, whoever knows me is having crappy things happen to them, time. My grandma is in surgery right now for a cancerous lump, one of my closest friends is going through a divorce, my grandpa is going in for a lung procedure this week because they think blood is pooling in his lung causing decreased lung capacity, and, to top it all off, Ethan and Dan both have the stomach flu.

They also say, it isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain. Well, at my house, we'll probably be dancing in puke not rain, but at least the doctor said this will be over in 24 to 48 hours. Poor kid can't keep anything down, not even medicine. I've been successful with two teaspoons of water at a time in 15 minute intervals so far, so we'll see what happens. I just know I've been washing my hands, sterilizing, and washing all of his bedding. At least I'm getting exercise running up and down the stairs over and over for various things Ethan needs. I'm glad I got that good night's sleep last night, I'm going to need it today.

More Pictures

Liz shared her pictures with me and I picked out a few because she got some good ones. She got a picture of me while they were singing "I'll Be Loving You" and a picture of Jenn freaking out. Priceless memories. That's what these are.

We Came, We Saw, We Freaked Out!

As some of you may know, I went to the New Kids On The Block concert on Saturday at the E-Center with Liz and Jenn! We had such a great time. It all started with the obligatory dinner at Applebee's. The place was packed with fans and some were even dressed up. My personal favorite was a table of girls who all had side ponytails and New Kids shirts on. Anyway, after dinner we headed over to the arena. We had to get our memorabilia, along with every other housewife there, so Jenn and I got keychains and Liz got a lanyard to mark the momentous occasion.

The first act started, Lady Gaga, which was not very good at all. I turned to Liz and said, "Is it just me or is it loud?" She said, "It's only loud because you're a mom." Thank goodness "Ms. Gaga" was only on for like four or five songs. We waited with anticipation. Natasha Bettingfield was next. She did a good job, but I didn't come to see her, I came to see my boys! After what seemed like forever, it was time for the concert to start. We screamed so loud, sang all the songs, and danced and waved our arms in the air like we were young in 1990 again. My personal favorite part was when Jordan, who was always my favorite, sang "I'll Be Loving You." That was a great moment for me.

Liz and Jenn laughed because I actually really freaked at that point. After having a night of so much fun and waving our hands in the air to "Hangin' Tough." It was time for them, and us, to go.

We were so hyper and none of us could hear because our ears were still buzzing. We giggled like little 12 year olds all the way home and grooved to Liz's New Kids mix in the car. We had so much fun! It was nice to get out and have a girls night to watch my boys up there singing their hearts out. We really had a great time. Jenn actually cried when they came out, like I knew she would. I just had to capture, in video form, how happy she really was to be there.



Here are some pictures from the night.



I heart Jordan. :)

The Haunted Canyon

So Jenny won another contest. She's always winning things, but no complaints here, I get to reap the benefits. She won tickets to the Haunted Canyon train on the Heber Valley Railroad and invited Ethan and I to go. Moby didn't go because the BYU game was on and Dan didn't go because he was picking up a shift at the hospital so Jenny and I piled the kids in the car and headed out. After Jenny's NASCAR like skill driving us down to Heber and up the canyon where the train would leave from, we finally got there. Ethan was so excited that he could barely contain himself. He was jumping up and down and couldn't hold still. He was so excited!

We got on the train, which was all decked out with spiderwebs and spooky lights. They had scary music going as well. We found our seats and the kids, Jenny, and I settled in for the ride. They had a storyteller who told scary ghost stories with sound effects and music over the intercom system. They had little ghosts outside the train and some inside the train too. Ethan got a little scared a couple of times, but all in all he had a really good time. We all had a lot of fun.



I'm so grateful I'm so close to Jenny. She's more like my sister than my friend and I can tell her anything. This has been so great for us to have our kids be friends. They truly love each other. On the way home, Ethan was tickling Julia by nuzzling her with his head. Such a silly boy. We stopped at Wendy's on the way home and got some food and ended a really good time. Jenny, thanks for the great time. We love you guys so much! I don't know what I'd do without you!

Well I Made It...And Dan Did Too

Dan did his first complete overnight shift last night. He's actually snoring away in bed right now. He worked 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. I think it was hard on him, but it wasn't too bad. He has been preparing for this day by staying up late, not until 7:00 a.m. but later than usual. I think that really helped him. He goes in again tonight. Ethan and I will just have a cozy day in the house while Daddy sleeps. I was going to take him to the park today so the house would be a bit quieter, but the weather had other plans.

In other news, I still haven't heard anything about my calling. I figure one of several things could've happened, they couldn't find someone to team up with me to teach, they couldn't find someone that quickly, the primary thought it would be too hard to switch off, etc. They were supposed to let me know what they "decided" yesterday at church, but nobody talked to me and I didn't get a phone call so they're either still working on it and I'll be in the primary eventually or they're working on an alternate calling for me. Either way, I'll be happy. I mean, I can do primary, just not every week. So we'll see what happens.

I made bread again yesterday...we were out and needed some. I think I'm going to go visit Debi this week sometime and bring her a loaf. She just had her new baby, Lucy, on Friday. She is such a cute baby! I'm so happy for them.

Our Weekend

Well, we had a pretty good one. Dan worked on Friday, but had the rest of the weekend off! A first in and of itself. With his job in Home Care, he usually ended up working most holidays. On Saturday, we were lazy and just stayed around the house. On Sunday, it was off to church, as a family! That was really awesome for us because Dan a lot of times would get called out and not be able to stay the whole time or he would have to leave and come back. I also got to visit with the home teachers on Sunday and got to relax. I read my book and just relaxed. I haven't done that in a long time.

Yesterday, I did a bit of shopping in the morning. Later on, Jenny called and asked if we wanted to go to dinner and a movie with her and Moby. We got my parents to babysit and we went to Olive Garden (mmmm...) and to the movies. We went and saw Iron Man at the Sugarhouse discount theater. All in all a really great time. It was really nice to have some adult time with Jenny and Moby without having to wrangle children in between our conversations. We had a really good time!

As for today, I'm back to the daily grind, and Dan is back at work, although he only has to work an eight hour shift today as opposed to a 12. He did have to take my car to work today. I heard the garage door go up and wondered about that. I got a text a little bit later that said his tire was flat so he had to take my car. Oh well. I was just planning on doing some cleaning and stuff around the house today anyway.

Until next time...

Feeling Good

I'm feeling a lot better than I have in the past few days. I think some of that has to do with the fact that I've been exercising the past couple of nights. The other part is that Dan has been home. He will be working a lot less hours for more money now that he is an actual nurse. He has his first day on the job today. :) I think he's going to like working there. He got up early and everything, not something Dan does lightly. He is definitely NOT a morning person AT ALL.

Anyway, like I said, things seem to have calmed down in my mind. I'm a lot more centered. Sometimes to get that way I have to beat myself down by exercising. It makes some of that stress go away.

We're going to the zoo today with Abby and Debi. I'm excited. I haven't seen Debi in a while and it will be nice to catch up...especially since she's having her baby in like 4 weeks!

Until next time...

My Birthday...

I've been meaning to write about my birthday for the last couple of days, I just hadn't gotten around to it yet. I'm the big 28 this year. I've been okay with this, but I can't help but cringe when I think that I'm only two years away from the dreaded 30. The funny thing is I'm older now than some of my Young Women leaders were when I was in that group at church. At the time, I thought they were old. I guess I was wrong, or maybe they were acting older. I definitely don't feel old though, at least not most of the time.

I really had a good birthday. I got to hang out with my mom. She took Ethan and I to lunch at Chili's. I love that place. Ethan was so cute. We were getting ready to leave when he realized that he didn't have any more of his drink left. He turned to the waitress and said, "Excuse me. I get some more?" It was funny. They put it in a little to go cup for him. As far as everything else, I got some wonderful cards from people and some great gifts.

Yesterday, Jenny and I let our moms watch the kids and we went out to Cafe Rio for my birthday. That's one of my favorite places to eat. We went to the one in Taylorsville...and we just happened to get caught in that really bad storm, but we were okay. It was fun eating out without the kids. After that, we hung out with the kids at Jenny's mom's house. The kids wanted to be outside, so we let them play outside in the rain while we sat under the patio. Ethan didn't want to leave. He loves playing with Julia and Jack so much!

All in all, it was a good birthday. I'm happy to be alive and happy to have a birthday. It's the only time I can get Dan to stop at Old Navy or any other store without him complaining...