First Smiles...

Yay! Laine is starting to smile! I love when babies start to become a little more interactive with you. For the past few days she has been trying to smile. She would get so close but just couldn't do it. Bit this morning my Dad was talking to her and trying to get her to smile and she did.

Staring straight at Grandpa flashing those beautiful gums.

Caught mid smile.

It's my umpuder...

Bode loves to sit on the computer and watch "Thomas the Train" videos on the computer. He can sit there for so long. He knows how to use the mouse to click on a new video. I am going to have to buy an egg timer so we can monitor the time on the computer. This is probably a good idea for me too. I know I spend to much time on here.

Two little kids...

We bribed Bode to sit down and take a picture with Laine. He was a sport and she was not. He has been doing so well with sharing the spotlight. I give all the credit to Jer for that. He and Bode are buddies and gives him all the attentions that he needs and that I can't give him at the moment. Bode did good and got to go outside after these little pictures. To bad he didn't open his eyes. He was to busy saying cheese.

I am this tall...

This is my parents closet door. There are marks on it from top to bottom of all my family's heights. We wanted to see where Bode stacked up. He is such a tall little boy. And is close to the height Lee was when she was 4. Now we need to start markings for all the grand kids on the door. Jer and I are going to get a long piece of wood to start marking our kids heights. One that we can take with us when we move around.

Crash...

I can literally count on my fingers how many times Bode has just crashed on the floor. Two, two times! He will just go and go and go until he is strapped down in a car seat or in a nice and comfy in a bed. We have been in Pinetop for the week and he got to go play with a friend on Tuesday. He and Steve must have played hard because this was him about a half an hour after he came home. Please notice all the toys around Grandma's house. He plays hard there too :)

My 300th post...

In honor of my 300th post I have decided to post 300 things about me...



ha! Just kidding. I got tagged to do 25 things about me. So since this is my little blog it seems fitting to do it for the 300th post.

1. I have a scar on my pinkie finger from getting scratched by Morris, our family cat. When I had to get fingerprinted to work at the school they had to make a special comment on my card about it. It also was cut really deep because it has some nerve damage in it. It feels strange to bent it with makes it hard to play piano.
2. I took piano lessons for quite a few years. ( ok 7 years) I am not very good though. I can play some church hymns and a few other songs. But I am good at sight reading, so I can still play. One day I would love to have a piano so that I could play again.
3. I was held back in kindergarten, kind of. My mom took me out half way through my first year. I guess I just didn't get why you go to school. I remember really liking recess and PE that year.
4. I have never been on a plane. Never needed to fly anywhere. Maybe someday I hope.
5. I love to read, but hardly ever do. Only because when I get into a good book nothing else matters. I can read it for hours and neglect everything around me. When the last Harry Potter came out I was in California. Jer told me I better have it done before I came home. I did, 759 pages in three days.
6. I have kissed 9 boys. Not bad, that is under double digits.
7. I wore a retainer. I thought they were cool, but I secretly wanted braces.
8. I played the violin for about 5 months in 4th grade. I quit because I didn't want to get up early for lessons.
9. When I started developing boobs, I thought I had cancer. But come on I didn't know what was happening. I was getting lumpy, what was I supposed to think.
10. I hate to pluck my eyebrows. Not because it hurts but because I suck at it. I am deathly afraid of over plucking or unevenness. Can someone help me? Seriously bring your tweezers and shape my brows!
11. I love going to thrift stores and yard sales. You can find some great things for really cheap. Now that Jer works on Saturday I haven't been in so long. I need a yard sale buddy.
12. I have a birthmark on my lip. It swells a bit when I am emotional. My great grandma had one too.
13. Once when I was little to get out of doing the dishes I told my siblings that my hands were to little to wash the silverware. They still make fun of me for that line.
14. I snort when I laugh really hard.
15. I know how to drive a manual. My first car was a 1984 Toyota pickup truck. I loved it. It was also a hand-me down from my older sister.
16. I like to go camping. Not necessarily love to go, but like to go. It is a lot of work to get everything together, cooking, watching kids and trying to stay somewhat clean. But once I am there I really enjoy the outdoors and having a camp fire.
17. I want to go hiking with Jeremiah this summer. When I was younger my family hiked Mt. Baldy and I thought that was really fun. I think one day I want to go on a big backpacking trip in Colorado.
18. I love roller coasters!
19. I know how to twirl a baton. If that is what you call it. I took about 3 maybe 4 years of lessons. We did talent shows and marched in parades. I loved our costumes.
20. When I was little I loved leotards and swimmies. I have many pictures of me all dressed up in them.
21. Some of my favorite movies are old musicals. 7 brides foe 7 brothers, Meet me in St. Louis, Thoroughly Modern Milly, Singing in the Rain, I could go on and on.
22. I love jewelry. Necklaces, bracelets and earrings. I think girls look so put together went they wear them. But do I have any, no. I am to self conscious and feel overdressed. Maybe someday I can get over that feeling and wear jewlery.
23. I do not like soda. It hurts my nose to drink it. I don't mind root beet every once and awhile with pizza or camping. Other than that I stay away from it.
24. I am easily embarrassed. I try to pretend I am not but I can't. I can remember things that happened to me from years ago and still be embarrassed about them and try to think of what I could have done differently to be not so embarrassed.
25. I have learned doing this that I am not that interesting of a person. It took me like 2 days to try and figure out 25 things about myself.

I tag Jill, Connie, Brittany, and you Mom. And I won't be offended if you choose not to do it. It is kind of hard.

A day on the farm...

On Presidents we took a little day trip to visit St. David. All them men took the jeeps and took of into the desert. And all the girls met up at the Merrill's house to let the cousins run wild. After going back and forth on going at all, Lee and I decided to pack up my kids and go. The only person that couldn't was Jer, he had to work :(

All these cousins have such a good time together. "Gogan" or Megan in the oldest and is the leader of the bunch. They all love to follow her around. She is a good cousin and plays her role well.

Here is little Mike. He turned 1 year old yesterday. You could desperately tell that he wanted to join all the big kids, but he was left in the dust.

Brittany's grandparent have a horse, some sheep and some chickens. I the afternoon we packed up the kids to go play on the farm. What a fun place to visit!

Bode loved all the chickens. I am sure they didn't like him becasue he poked them with sticks.

Little Laine was a good sport. She was all snuggled up in my ergo and slept the whole time.
Brittany told the kids that she would give them ten dollars if they could touch one of the sheep. Fat chance, those suckers are fast! The little babies are so cute. At one point all the kids lined up on one side of the field and the sheep huddled at the other. Kids vs Sheep. No one touched a sheep, the sheep won.

Here is Bode, Parker and Abbey having a go at it.

The highlight of the afternoon was the horse ride on Grey. Brittany was very kind and took all the kids for a ride. No small feat because she is 7 months pregnant. Thanks Brittany, Bode can't stop talking about the horse ride.

We were all pretty worn out by the end of the day but it was worth it. When we were packing up Bode kept telling me he wanted to "stay here". He wanted to stay so bad. I am glad the cousins can be so close!

One month old...

One month stats:

10lbs 4 oz

21 1/4 inches long

Little Laine is one month old! She is growing so fast. After I had Bode a family friend told me that once a baby hits 10lbs they will sleep through the night. So far we are 2 for 2. Bode had 6 hour streches around 10 lbs and Laine is starting to have 4-5 hour streches during the night too.

I love this little purple dress. It reminds me of a story my mom told me about myself when I was little. When I was little I had the biggest chubbiest cheeks and my favorite color was purple. My Grandma Brewer was babysitting me and she asked me what I wanted to do. I told her we could play house. I would be the mom and she could be little Heidi with the chubby cheeks and the purple dress.

This isn't a great picture but I am holding Laine and she is holding here head up looking older my shoulder. She is getting really good at holding up her head for about 30 seconds at a time. You can barely even tell she is holding her head up at all becasue of the combination of chubby cheeks and a double chin make it impossible see any neck at all.She is a happy little girl and hardly ever cries. Not even for a bath. She fits right into our family. We love this little girl.

Valentines day...

We had a nice Valentines day. I decided to make this tiny holiday kind of fun for us this year.

Bode got a little box of chocolates and a sticker book. Then we had pink heart shaped pancakes. This boy loves pancakes and could have them for every meal. We got to use our red plate that we got from the Brooks's. It is only to be used for special days and occasions.

Just so you know Bode cleared his whole plate. And those were big thick pancakes.





Then Bode and Jer frosted cookies.
Actually Bode just ate frosting.

Jer and I never do anything for Valentines Day. But my sweet husband bought me tulips this year. It was a pleasant surprise. I love you Jeremiah!

There's a light under my bed...

About a week or so ago we were getting ready for bed and we told Bode to go get his juice cup out of his room. He runs back to us a second later screaming about a light. We told him to turn on his light and get his cup. And again he runs out screaming about a light under his bed. Turns out one of his little toy got pressed up against something under his bed, causing it to leave it's light on. So it looked like there was something under his bed. So since then he has been freaked out by the light under his bed. He will tell anything that will listen about it. It has caused a little bit of an issue at bed time though. He now must sleep with a flashlight, picture of our family, stuffed animals all around him and music on, with the door open. This is quite a departure from what he used to to. Juice, blanket, sleep. Oh well at least he sleeps all night. But every night we check for the light under the bed. I wonder how long this will last?

Boops...

When we first brought Laine home Bode was very interested in feeding her food. So we had a little chat about how mommies feed babies. You know with their boobs ;) Now Bode likes to show every one his "boops". I know every kid of a breastfeeding mother does this but it is quite funny just the same.

In my past life...

I was an athlete.

Now that my life is feed a kid, nurse a baby, change a diaper, nap.... I decided to remember things that I used to be. I love being a mother and wife, but that is not all that I am. So here are a few post to remind myself of who I once was.

I ran track in high school. I really enjoyed the social aspect of it. You know, it was coed. And I happened to be good at it. I started in 4 grade and I ran the 400 meter dash. I was bummed that I never got to try out for the shorter sprints, they were all taken by the older girls. So I ran the 400 all through mid school. Then I started running the 100, 200 and relays in JR high. In 8th grade I was running in the high 13's. That was faster than the high school girls. There was a rumor going around that I said I could beat all the high schoolers. Ha ha, I was way to shy to talk to hardly any one let alone a high schooler. Anyway when track season rolled around, the "rumor" was true. And I did beat all the high school girls on our team. And most of the girls in our conference. I never took the sport to seriously, I wish I had. I probably would have been a lot better. But I didn't do to bad. I metaled at State in the 100, 200 three years in a row. I wish I could remember what I metaled in, if I got them out I could. But that requires to much effort.

I ran track for three years and got MVP for girls and the coaches award my senior year. I didn't get to run my senior year because I dislocated my knee cap during volleyball season.

I held the record in the 100 meter dash and the 200 meter dash for eight years. Until my little sister broke both of them. I think it might have stung a little bit if it had been someone else, but it was awesome that my little sister broke them. Keeping it in the family.

Just a fun side note. My whole family is well to put it bluntly, we were all pretty studly. My oldest brother Pete played football at University of Wyoming. Jill was a really good softball player. I remember watching her pitch, sometimes I would catch for her. Her balls stung my hand. This maybe why I have a fear of catching a softball now. Tim ran hurdles for a semester in Utah. He was an amazing hurdler. I still can see him in my mind, it is a work of art. Lee my little sister is a volleyball stud. She is currently playing volleyball at GCC. Pete, Tim, Me and Lee all won the Outstanding Athelete at our High School our senoir years.

One time I was with a group of friends and one of them turned to me and asked me if the rumor was true. We lived in a small town, lots of small talk. She had heard that our dad would get us up early so we could run and lift weights. I laugh and said no. I know my dad likes that we were all good at our sports but he never pushed us like that. Ha Ha.

This brings me to my true love... volleyball. I love it! I played softball, basketball, volleyball and track in JR high. Volleyball was the most difficult becasue it didn't come easy for me. It was challenging and I really wanted to be good at it. I played freshman volleyball. Then Varsity my sophomore, junior and senior year. I could go on and on about volleyball. I really just love to play. Hopefully I can find some volleyball to get into down here soon. I wanna play. Oh wait, I need to lose a little weight, then I wanna play!This is me blocking. Man I used to have a vertical. I could block with my elbows.
One other reason why I loved volleyball so much was becasue of the friends I made while playing. These girls where the best teammates. Paige, Stephanie, me and Tosha. Stephanie made volleyball a blast. This was our senior year. At the first tournament of the summer season Steph and I went after the same ball. I dove and so did she. My leg hit her arm and she broke both of the bones in her arm. I was devastated that I aided in breaking her arm. She was my best friend on the volleyball team and I thought I ruined her senior year. But she was a stud!! And was back by our first game.

I went on to play at Eastern Arizona College for 2 years. That was a blast also. I played middle and right side. It was so fun to take the game to the next level. I would have like to keep playing for 4 years, but I had surgery on my knee after my freshman year and decided that it wasn't worth it to ruin my knees completly (plus some other reason, but there is no need to rehash the past) and stopped playing collegiate volleyball after my sophomore year. I have since then coached a few teams, but nothing compares to playing. I don't enjoy coaching as much as playing. Maybe some day I will coach again, right now I just would like to find somewhere for me to play again.

One more reason to love my husband...

I love my husband so much. He is so sweet to me ( see previous post). He is very thoughtful and aware of my needs. He works very hard at work and then comes home and helps me out so much. Like last night Laine was having a difficult time going to sleep. I was talking to Jer on the phone and he was on his was home so that he could take her into the living room and I could get some sleep. She fell asleep before he got home so instead he got up early with both kids so I could sleep in. He has done this quite a few times in the last few weeks and it mean so much to me as sleep deprived mother.

Jeremiah is a good dad. Bode knows when Jer's days off are. On those days they are attached at the hip. On one of the days off mornings they get up and go get doughnuts. It was really cute on Tuesday this week Bode crept into our room around 6:30 and goes to Jer's side of the bed and whispered "doughnuts" to Jer. Normally at 6:30 I we would put him back to bed. But that was to cute to resist. They got up, got dressed and got a doughnut.

This past week Jer did maintenance on our cars. In the 4 years of marriage we have really had no major problems with our cars. Jer takes good care of them and that is an attractive quality to me. I am glad he can do those kind of things it saves us a lot of money.

Dirty man hands.






I like a guy all grubby from working.

Bode learned where the motor and battery are in the Tahoe. He is such a little boy.

I love my goofy husband.

Bode was not a fan of taking a picture with me. He did like peaking through my hair though.

Laine is 3 weeks old today. She is grown so much already. I am anxious to see how much weight she has gained. She feels more solid. I love it.

Ok I have a question if you feel like leaving a comment.

I haven't taken Laine to church yet. The biggest outing she has was a 10 minute Target trip. Maybe I am some kind of freak but I think that she is to little to get exposed to all the germs that Church has until she is like a month old. But I feel like maybe my ward thinks I am a wimp for being this way. I also teach primary and don't want a bunch of little kids fingers on her yet. But I know that some other lady's have had babies lately and they are already at church. But it is RSV season and I don't want her to get sick. I would prefer to wait the 6 weeks until she is ready for the public, but I probably need to get back to my class. Plus Jer teaches a class the same time I do, so he can't take her. I don't know what I am going to to when she is hungry or explodes her diaper. Leave my 6 year old class to fend for themselves while she nurses for 20 minutes? Maybe I am just over thinking this or I am a wimp. What do you think?

4 years...

Jeremiah and I have been married for four years! It doesn't seem like that much time has passed between us. All I know is that I didn't know what I was getting myself into the day I said I would marry him. I say that in a good way. These past four years have been wonderful. I love my husband more and more. It is amazing how love can change and grow. It is so assuring to know that I have someone that will be with my through everything. And that the good and bad times we have together only makes us stronger and more connected to each other.


Here are four years of anniversary pictures:




These picture were some of the professional pictures that were taken for our wedding. I hate them all! I feel bad that my mom and dad paid for the pictures and we didn't order one print. I prefer the ones my friend Taytum took at the temple. But I thought I would mix it up a little and throw in one of these. I know it has only been 4 years but man we look so young in this picture.

This is our first anniversary. I am glad it isn't a close up shot because I was 8 months pregnant with Bode and have a good 50 extra pounds hanging out around my fact to prove it. We when up to Greer and stayed at the lodge. It was so beautiful and the room was great. It had a huge jet tub and a king size bed. We didn't have a ton of money and this suite would have been way out of our price range but it was a bad winter and tourism was down. So they were running a local special for like half the price. But our goal of saving money went out the window when our waiter messed up our order and gave Jer a $35 steak. He only ordered the $12 steak. They wouldn't admit their mistake and we ended up paying for it. I think it was funny that he ordered a $35 dollar steak and I ate my $8 dollar hamburger. They did give a free desert though.

Second Anniversary

We didn't do too much. We dropped Bode off at Rena's and got a hotel and went out to dinner. Neither of us feel the need to do anything spectacular, I just enjoy time together just me and him. We didn't even take a picture, this was actually Thanksgiving.

Third Anniversary:

We actually decided to go do something. Our original plan was to go to California, but it was ruled out because it was to expensive. We ended up spending the same amount of money in Tucson as we would have if we went to California. This was right before Jer started the academy. (wow this seems like yesterday) His poor brain was all over the place and he accidentally mis scheduled the whole week for the next week. Good thing everything was able to get moved up. We shopped, when to a yummy steak dinner, caught a spring training game and went to Carlsbad Caverns.

This year was nice and laid back. It is hard to do anything when you just had a baby. So we dropped off our kids at Rena's for a few hours and went to Costco and Sports Authority. Whoo hoo how romantic. After the day was over we both agreed we should have just come back home and took an uninterrupted nap. But again I enjoyed the whole day becasue I was with my husband.

Jer knows that I would someday love to have flowers delivered to our house. He thought that since we weren't going to do anything special this year he would go ahead and get some delivered. But since our anniversary is so close to Valentines Day, flower prices are super high. So he though would Heidi rather have $80 dollar flowers or something else. Well he thought right. I would rather have something else. So these are my "flowers". Sweet new running shoes! I can't wait to use them.

I think next year we might do something really great. Five years is a long time and deserves something special. My vote is for Disneyland. And I have a whole year to convince Jeremiah.

Happy 4 years Jer!! I love to so much!!

A wonderful mother!

This is for my wife who believes that i could never do a blog but she forgets that i showed her how to do the blog in the first place. I have to sneak this in a day early because she is sleeping right now and i will not be able to do this on Thursday on our four year anniversary together. I wanted to say happy four years Heidi it has been fun and i have enjoyed everyday of our lives together. I am grateful for you and the good mother you are. You have done so well it makes me happy and that you continue to want to go through pregnancy to bring children into this world it is truly amazing thank you for doing that so that i can enjoy being a father. You are amazing keep up the good work you will be rewarded for all your hard work our children love you and you provide a good home for all of us thanks for doing a great job of taking care of us for four years. I love you sweetheart. Happy anniversary.