New Year, New Goals

When I started this blog I knew I wasn't going to be a daily or even weekly poster but I didn't think I would take a two year break! Haha New year, New goals.
Since my last post a lot has happened! Daysen is four. They are at such fun ages. Daysen is curious about everything. He asks so many questions! "What does sure mean?" "Why can Aunt ____ say shut up and I can't?" "Am I five yet?" "How many days until my birthday?" 90% of the time I have to say "I don't know!" Then he says, " What does I don't know mean?" Then I say, "I don't know, it means I don't know the answer." Then I realize my answer is not satisfying him, so he goes to ask Josh. Thank goodness!
Whenever Daysen wants to play with Josh he will say, "Dad do you want to play with your Dacer?" I didn't realize how much Josh calls Daysen, Dacer until I took Daysen to Itty Bitty Ball. It was half way through the season and Josh had taken him to all of the previous practices. I couldn't hear what his coach was calling him until she yelled for him to come onto the field. She was calling him Dacer and that was all she was calling him. It was so weird to hear someone other than Josh call him that. She must have heard Josh saying it and figured that was his name because I am pretty sure Josh didn't introduce him as Dacer.
He is in preschool and loves it. He loves to come home with homework. He loves to carpool with his friends. He loves to write his name.
This year we found out Daysen has allergies. Poor guy! They only act up when he is around animals. They went crazy when we took him to the circus out in SLC. Then at Vernal Holly Days he rode a pony and I had to run to grab some benadryl.
He gave his first talk in primary in December 2012. He was SOOO excited! When I whispered what it said he did so good repeating it loud so everyone could hear. Josh and I had a very proud parent moment.
Christmas was so much fun with him. I loved his little christmas list, just a lightning mcqueen car with remote control. So sweet. He has the Santa thing all figured out. Santa has helpers and elves that watch to see if you are being good. Ever since he has this thing where he will give you an X or a check.  When you are being good you get a check and when you are bad you get an X. He says he is helping Santa. Taylyn and I get lots of X's.
Taylyn grew out of being a baby so fast. She loves to talk on the phone. She is always calling people on our phones and somehow she knows who she is talking to.
I love when she sings, "I love, I love, I la la love you." It is the cutest thing ever!
When she wants to be held and cuddled she will go up to you and say, "I tired." Then suck on those two little fingers and close her eyes.
When she farts she says, "Whats that?" Then I'll say, " I don't know what is it?" Then she'll smile and say, "It stinky bubbles." Hahahahaha oh my!
She loves to say good morning whenever she wakes up and will keep saying it until you say it back.
She loves to sing, dance, dress up, and get beautiful. She is definitely a girly girl. Painting nails, putting on make up and drawing on anything but paper are her favorite things to do. She does not like to run around whatsoever. We were at the rec. center playing basketball and she wanted to be held the entire time. She is the complete opposite of Daysen. She has a huge stubborn streak! She knows what she wants and nobody can change her mind.
I love them so much! I wish I could just hold them and never let go!
September 2011 Josh and I bought our first home! We were very blessed to find it at a good deal but it is a huge project taking on a fixer-upper. So far we have replaced all of the carpet, replaced the ceiling downstairs, replaced 2 out of 3 toilets, painted the upstairs, tiled the kitchen(Very proud of Josh for that :)), started floor trim upstairs, and landscaped the front lawn. It has been frustrating and slow at times but worth it in the end. We can look at our work proudly and fix it up the way we like.
We have a new dog, Killian. He is a german shepherd and such a good dog. He listens so well. He is big and doesn't know it. He is a year old now.
Right now we are focusing on the new year and what we can bring to it. Happy 2013!!

Hope, but sadness

My brother in law and his wife are going through the worst thing that could happen to any parent. Losing a child. Much worse though, the only time they will get to spend with him/her will be in the womb.
Their baby has potter's syndrome. Through some research I have found many stories. All heart breaking and inspiring. My favorite website was http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/stories/ It is an organization of photographers who volunteer to take pictures of babies who will not have the chance to live a full life. They believe the pictures will help the parents through the grieving process. A lot of the babies do not make it to full term and the pictures are still amazing and mean so much to these families.
I cannot express with any words how much sorrow I feel for my brother and sister. I see the pain in their eyes and it makes me want to hug them, cry for them and take on their pain. I pray they will experience a miracle through this hard time. If there was anything I could do I would do it. If there was anything I could say I would say it. The only thing that will ever be enough is our prayers.
Prayers out to all those who have, are, and ever will lose one of their precious babies.

Didn't know what to call this one... Random

I joined Heritage makers recently. I have been playing around on the website creating books. I love it. It is so much easier than scrapbooking and so addicting. I am thinking about becoming a consultant, but if I am going to do it than I want to be in it all the way. I don't know if I can commit to a job like that.

On another note I decided to stick with breastfeeding.. Yay!! Even though Taylyn bit me today the hardest she ever has, I feel compelled to stick it out. I've heard the first two teeth are the only ones to effect nursing, so that will be nice. As for Josh and my anniversary weekend, I think we are still going to go snowboarding and stay out in Salt Lake for a night. I am going to pump every four hours and let Taylyn go to Aunt Emma's and drink pumped milk until she runs out, then she will have to drink some formula. We'll see how it works..

Daysen's 3rd Birthday is coming up. :(  :'( My baby canNOT be three already.. I am kinda freaking out and putting off his party plans hoping it won't come any sooner than it is.
Some of the things he says I think you aren't old enough to be saying that, like: "Mommy I bery, bery, bery, bery hungry,"  "But why?" "I just bery love you mommy," "I just need a cookie," and "It ok Taylyn I here." I just love him!!! I wish I could freeze time and hold him and never let go.. No more bottles, sippy cups, crib, baby clothes, strollers. He is my big boy now. The day he doesn't want to give me kisses anymore or "need mommy" I really am going to lose it.
I have to stop or else I am going to drowned my computer with tears. So as for the party I know he would love a Toy Story 3 theme and I think we will take him and whole fam swimming at the Rec. Center then do cake and presents at our house. I was going to rent one of their party rooms but they are too small and way too much for what you get so I think I will pass.

<3 Laura

Pros and Cons: Breastfeeding

I am at a breaking point on whether or not I should continue to Breastfeed my baby girl, Taylyn. She is six months old. I feel like she has gotten the required nutrition from breast milk, plus more. I have already said I am done and then decided to continue and then over again. So...
These are my pros and cons to quit breastfeeding.

Pros:

• I won't  be getting bitten anymore. She didn't bite me yesterday and that is record out of the last three weeks. It hurts! So far I have gotten some advice from my mom, sisters, and internet saying, Tell her no, I tried and she either doesn't understand or doesn't care. I think the first. Flip her mouth, I really don't want to try this. Knowing Taylyn she will scream and cry, maybe exaggerated, but I will feel really, really bad. Stop the feeding. This is probably the best advice. When she is not latched on I no longer let her leisurely decide whether she is finish or not, because she usually bites me when she is done or crying. So whenever she shows signs of being finished I unlatch her. If she latches back on I let her eat until she is bored again. When she gets mad, we are done until she isn't crying. This is limiting the biting but it still happens.
• I am not the only one who can feed her. Josh can feed her. He wants to feed her. I want him to feed her. I want  NEED a break.
• Josh and I will be able to go snowboarding or just out, and not worry about Taylyn running out of milk. I could supplement with formula but we never use up the whole can within a month, not even half a can, it is such a waste of money.
• No more pumping!
• Bottle feeding is familiar. I did it for 9 months with Daysen. It is a good memory. Watching Taylyn try to hold the bottle by herself, cuddle with out lifting my shirt, and watching her look around curiously while eating, it feels good, it feels like me, and again familiar. 
• My milk is already diminishing. In these undecided moments I have supplemented with out pumping just in case, so come the evening, I have no milk.

Cons:

• Formula stinks.
• Formula spit up, stains clothes.
• I am not the only one who can feed her.(yes, this was in the pros list too, its complicated) I feel so much closer to Taylyn, she needs me. I remember when I stopped nursing Daysen, at three months. I felt like feeding him was no longer my job. Any ol' person could do it. 
• I will miss the cuddling and the break. Sometimes I would give Daysen a bottle propped up with a blanket. Until he knew how to hold it himself. Then I would just lay him down to feed himself. Guilty. I know I shouldn't have, but things Had to get done or so it seemed back then. And I will probably do it with Taylyn especially since she can almost hold the bottle herself so I will miss, the 10 minutes I get to sit down and that time for just Taylyn and I.
• Worse diapers. This would be on this list but she has started eating green beans and such, so that is already happening.
• Taylyn loves and I mean LOVES nursing. Which Josh realized months ago and I am just beginning to figure out. She does not love bottles but she will take them when she is hungry, only, and I mean only, if it is at the exact temperature she wants it. Which is warmer than warm, not room temperature, not luke warm, warmer than warm. This is going to be difficult when we are not at home. When we are home we have to heat it back up 1-3 times before she is done.
• I hate making bottles in the middle of the night.
• I hate washing bottles.

Now tell me how am I supposed to decide???
This is what it is all about. Nothing can ever be black and white, yes or no, there is always the grey and always the maybe and what if. Really it just boils down to what I want. We all know what Taylyn wants. What do I want?

Ranch Chicken Sandwiches

We went over to our friends' house the Glines, Kalie made the most AMAZING sandwiches ever! And I had to have the recipe...

3-4 chicken breasts
1 can chicken broth
2 tablespoons Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 Loaf of French Bread
Ranch Dressing
4 slices of bacon
1 Avocado sliced
1 Tomato sliced
1 cup shredded cheese

Cook in crock pot on high for four hours with chicken broth and Montreal Steak Seasoning. Shred the chicken in the crock pot so that it soaks up all the marinade.
Cut French bread loaf long ways in half.
Spread Ranch dressing on both sides of the loaf.
then add layers...chicken, bacon, cheese, tomato and avocado.
Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.

Top 10 favorites for sure!

Things to do, Places to see

Today I am on a kick of places I want to go. I would like to go on a cruise or to another country like Italy, but first we'll start our traveling adventures in the states.
Josh and I went to Vegas Aug. 2009. We went to Denver in April. Next year we are planning on going to Kentucky. I really want to go to the Grand Canyon as well sometime in the spring. Thinking about Kentucky I would like to go back during the Derby season and buy a really HUGE hat and pretty sundress and bet on some random horse, but that will have to come later because we are going in July. I want to see New York and Niagra Falls to get a cute couples picture with the waterfalls. I want to take my kids to Disney world in Florida go to the ocean all that fun stuff. I want to go on a big California trip see everything there is to see LA San Francisco, and a bunch of places Josh wants to go... and many other places but that is all for now.

Trying New Things

I decided to start a blog to record family moments and my thoughts. I am horrible keeping up in a journal, I can type so much faster. So we will see how it goes!