SUNVALLEY, IDAHO

Conner's brother, Zeke, and his wife and baby (Jamie & Charlie), made their way to the good state of UTAH. However, before they settled into Logan we decided to meet them half way and join them at their families condo in Sunvalley, Idaho. Conner and I have never spent time with just Zeke and Jamie so it was really fun, and great for me to get to know Jamie better as well! Charlie and Nixon loved swimming! Nixon could have stayed in the pool ALL DAY EVERYDAY! With the good food, company, and playing it was a really great and relaxing trip! 
Zeke & Jamie headed to Logan with us and we spent the rest of the weekend together. Thank you guys for coming! You are welcomed ANY time!!!

2 SWEET!!!!

When I was younger, I remember sitting outside of the Jr. High at lunch looking at the High School and watching all of the HS students walk down to the vocational building. We (my friends and I) would always say how we wish so bad to be in high school! Then that quickly turned to being 16 so we can drive, which later switched to going to college, getting married, and then having a family. Needless to say, we were always 'wishing our life away'! Being in 6th grade and wishing to be in high school really doesn't seem like all that long ago. But to think I am at that 'having a family stage' is absolutely bizarre. Not to mention, my baby is now a CRAZY two-year old TODDLER!!!! Two years ago we welcomed the most sweetest and innocent little bambino into our crazy lives. I can remember that day quite well and hope to never forget it! When he was a newborn, Conner would say he was so excited for him to get a little bigger so they can run around and play. It is almost sad to me that that day is now here. As much as I miss that sweet little baby who would sleep in my arms I am also madly in love with the handsome little devil that causes much chaos in this household! I love our little Nixon no matter how much of a stinker he can be, at the end of the day he is OUR son and he is the most precious human being in our lives. I love that kid to the moon and back a trillion times! Happy birthday little boy!!! We LOVE you!!

Here is a little of what is going on in our little man's life!

I have started Nixon into a bad habit, loving SWEETS! Or "cheets" (treats) as Nixon calls it. He knows the few places we go where he can milk people for treats! (Macey's, Daddy's Worker, Sports Academy)
Conner rewarded him the other day (as if he knows what that means) with a trip to Cold Stone. He was the only one lucky enough to be rewarded with an ice cream! He also loves cookies, suckers, cupcakes, fruit snacks, fruit, basically anything with sugar or a sugary taste will satisfy this little guys needs! (Don't worry, we brush his teeth every night, Dr. Edwards!)

Nixon and I went grocery shopping on one particular day in march and I noticed EVERYONE in their green. (A green wig is what gave it away). I called my sister to ask if it was St. Patty's day! I felt so sad! I know he is 2 and wouldn't know either way but I was looking forward to doing something fun for the holiday. We went home and I put green on the both of us, but as far as st. patty day fun, it was lacking! We did however go for a little walk outside, and played with BALLOONS! Nixon LOVES balloons! If he sees them on the street or in stores he will go crazy. Sometimes I give in a buy some for him. On this day he kept crying and I couldn't figure out why. I tied the balloon on his hand thinking he'd be happy, but he just freaked. I took the balloon off and he immediately let it go. He was SO excited! I guess all along he just wanted to watch it go up in the air. He kept shouting, "Loon Loon!!! Bye loon!!!"

Nixon is also starting to be quite intrigued by shadows. I'll catch him staring at them trying to figure out what in the heck it is! I was loading him in the car the other day and noticed he was waving at his shadow. :)

When I posted about Nixon pooin in the potty, I totally jinxed it! He has not gone ever since, although he has pee'd a few times. He still likes to sit on the toilet, but the annoying part is that he has to take all of his clothes off before doing so! I think he is more fascinated with playing with the toilet paper and flushing the toilet than actually trying to go to the bathroom.

Nixon thinks he is 100% capable of doing anything and everything! He has to buckle himself in his car seat (or he freaks), he has to sit on the bar stools or table (NOT in his high chair), he has to get in and out of the tub on his own, he'll pick out his shoes, he has to get a wet wipe when I am all done cleaning his bum and do the last swipe on his own, and the list goes on and on!!  Last week he tried dressing himself for a good 15-20 minutes. He thought my gym shorts was a shirt. The pants was a trial in and of themselves...he kept trying and trying until he finally had to throw in the towel!

Nixon has NEVER been a cuddly baby, but he has slowly but surly gotten better! :D When I am holding him he will put his head on my shoulder! He will also cuddle with me in the morning after he wakes up, or at night before he goes to bed. I LOVE IT!!!!

Three days a week he gets to play with our neighbor, Gemma. It is funny to watch the things they do the older they get! They are CRAZY! Let me just say, Nixon was never a climber until little tiny sweet Gemma came along! (shouldn't it be the opposite!?) They now (on their own) push the kitchen chairs up against the back of the couch and jump onto the couch, they can never stay in the bath tub without getting out and bringing in toys or taking them out and putting them in another room, they LOVE to climb on the table too! I don't even think Nixon knew this was possible until he watched Gemma. Now I will always catch him up on the counter top the little stinker!!! I just had to post the picture of them after bath time. After I get them out of the tub and get them their towel they will ALWAYS go into the hall or bedroom and lay right next to each other all wadded up in a ball! haha!!

The thing I LOVE is how silly Nixon is. Maybe not to other people, but I am always laughing at the things he picks up on. Rather it is the things he does or says...I LOVE it! He is a funny little guy!! He is also always getting into everything!....literally!

Conner and I spent Saturday doing some deep cleaning. We had the couches up to clean underneath them. When Nixon came down after his nap and saw them he was totally distraught. He kept saying, "oh no!" Or "no no no dada!"

I think I learned a lesson, no more pop-up books for Nixon. They don't EVER last long.

I can officially say, the TERRIBLE TWO's has hit my son!!! He has a tendency to drive Conner and I mad! I feel bad saying that, but really this kid can drive you absoultely nutty! He whines and whines AND whines. He never seems satisfied, and the list goes on and on. The last weekend we have never experienced him so 'naughty'! We've got a whole lot comin'! We love him, but we hate the whining and the tantrums (which he is very good at throwing!) Oh, and he has started this REALLY SUPER LOUD scream when he is not happy. It is GREAT!!

Luckily for him, (and us), all I have to do is peak in on him at night and I am reminded of the good in the kid and how cute and silly he has some serious potential of being! I love him more and more each day, and get stressed and go nuts more and more too (how is this possible?) I love my baby SO much regardless of the stinker he is, I especially love how angelic he looks when he is sleeping! That is the only time I can use that word to describe him as of lately so he better be grateful for it! haha!!!

We are having Nixon's birthday party in Nephi in a couple of weeks, but since it is his birthday tomorrow I wanted to do something little for him now as well. We had some of our friends come to our house today for cake and ice cream. It was fun to have them over and have all the attention drawn to him! I wanted him to have his own cake and I was thinking of just getting him a cupcake...but I decided it is HIS birthday and he deserves more! So he had a big cake all to himself! He is crazy though, he didn't even finish half of it!! haha
We also are knew to the whole skype thing and were able to have all his family in Nephi watching him blow out his candle and eat his cake! Love technology!

Starting to Climb the Ladder!

Here's how it all went down....(the long version, all for my amusement in the future...sorry to bore the rest of you folks!)
Nixon has done some DAMAGE on his Mama's body! Not with just the massive stretch marks that cover my entire torso, but also with extra padding in my hips and my tummy. BOO! Everyone said, oh it takes a year to get back to your pre-baby self. Well folks, my son is going to be TWO next week and Mama STILL jiggles! Since my dear husband is a avid gym member that as luckily pushed me to go to the gym, and not only that but it is nice to get out of the house and feel good about something. BUT it finally hit me that it is TIME to actually put some effort, a lot of effort, and try to make some improvement in the jiggly department!
I signed up for something called "Boot Camp" at our gym which is pretty much a Biggest Loser style work out with a trainer. I will just tell you one thing, I can honestly say I have NEVER worked out so hard in my life! Those classes are TOUGH! Everyday I go I just can't help being scared for what the trainer has next up her sleeve! It definitely makes you push yourself and do things you never thought possible. And to be honest, I LOVE it. I love leaving the class extremely sweaty with a bright red face. It makes me feel GOOD! There was actually one class where I honestly felt like I needed to call Conner to carry Nixon from the gym to the car, it was that bad! haha!!
On the off days (Tuesday & Thursday) I have decided to put running to the test. I have NEVER been a runner. The summer of 2008 I tried to run consistently everyday, but we are talking 2-3 miles. The last time I had ran was in September and that was even only about 1 mile at a time here and there. I had first heard that sometimes in boot camp they make your run to the temple and back which is 4 miles. That SCARED ME TO DEATH! So the day before boot camp I hit the treadmill after 5 months and ran that 4 miles. I was pretty excited about it, and the cool thing is that it definitely pushed me to see how much more I could do. I ran 6 miles last week and I was stoked. ( I DO not have my mother's running gene so 6 miles was a big accomplishment for ME!)
The crazy person that I am decided, well if I ran 6 miles once I can do it again!....So this morning I did my very first 10k!! I knew I was going to do the 5k, but in the back of my head I thought that I really wanted to push myself and do the 10k. I called my mom and had a chat with her about it. She told me exactly how it is, running is a total mind game. If you tell yourself you are going to run the longer distance, then you will! After that convo I was set on doing the 10k, but I was still scared to death!! 
I woke up this morning with my tummy churning and drove to what very well could have been my death. I registered for the race and walked around for a minute thing how stupid I was as I saw all of the people who looked like runners with the running gear and all! That was not me! I was the rookie baby! 
When the race finally started, everyone passed me up. I kept peaking behind to see if I really was the last one in the 10k race. Besides those mama's pushing their strollers walking, I was the last one! That sure put a damper on my spirits, but I knew I had to pace myself right if I wanted to finish. (Oh, and I forgot to mention this race was on a CHILLY Logan morning, on campus, which is even more chilly and extremely windy!) After about 2 miles of running, I looked off to the side and saw CONNER & NIXON standing there to cheer me on. When I left for the race they were both sound asleep, I had no idea I would see them there. I ran the rest of the race with a big smile and pushing myself even harder. Luckily near the end of the race, for my own sake, I was passing up a lot of people who passed me at the beginning. (Pacing yourself is key I guess!) I sprinted in the the finish line thinking people would be standing around cheering everyone on, but that wasn't the case. haha! Anyways, I am SO glad that I had that chat with my mom and decided to push myself by doing the 10k. I know for most of you people, 6 miles is NOTHING. That is why I almost feel like an idiot even writing about it. For me, it was a big accomplishment and something I feel so good about. Maybe someday I can be more like my mom, sister-in-law, cousins, and all you other crazies out there and push myself for that 1/2 marathon. SOMEDAY!
After the race Conner took Nixon and I to Angie's for some breakfast. When we got home I crashed on the couch. Conner said, "You ran 6 miles, and you act like you just crossed a battle field!" hahaha!!!

TWO for TWO

So it all began on Friday afternoon...little wanna-squeeze-your-cheeks-cutie-pie and I were sitting at the table eating lunch, a peanut butter and honey sandwich with bananas to be exact. Out of know where Nixon shouts, "Poop! Poop!" I can tell he was pooping, so when I thought he was done I took him upstairs to change his bum. While changing him he said, "Poop potty", so I thought eh what the heck, the longer the sandwich sets the more crispy the honey gets which I absoultely LOVE! He sat on my toilet for a good 10 minutes. I kept asking if he was all done and each time he replied with a quick NO. 
And then...it happened.
He said, "Push, push!" He squinted his nose and grinded his teeth. And to my surprise, out came the poop! I went crazy! I told him not to move and I ran to get my camera, but not just my camera...my video camera too! It was crazy! My little baby pooped in the potty out of total randomness. I had not even started thinking of potty training the kid...I haven't wanted to let go of the fact that he is not a baby anymore. tear.
After the business was complete, mommy was still cheering loud and we were doing a potty dance around the bathroom. I picked up the phone and called my mom and sister to tell have Nixon tell them his exciting news, "poop potty!" YAHOO BUDDY!

But wait, it is not over yet!

The next night we are sitting at the Olive Garden enjoying as good of an Italian meal as you can there when my son started shouting over and over "poop, poop, POOP!" Conner ran out to the car to get a diaper and wipes and in the mean time I was embarrassed he would not stop saying the word POOP when everyone around us was trying to enjoy their meal too, so I took him to the bathroom and noticed he had not yet pooped. I took off his diaper and sat him on the toilet. Right away, he did his business. Number 1 & number 2. Can you imagine my thoughts?!
I ran out of the bathroom to tell Conner we would not be needing the diaper and wipes. We were both so shocked and excited that I think we may have made the mistake of telling everyone in our section and Conner had to inform the waiter too. :)
This still blows me away only due to the fact that we have never even tried to get him to do that, this all came on his own!

I bought him a new potty chair, which was a mistake. Now he is constantly wanting to sit at the potty. If he is bathing he will want to get out ever 2 minutes to sit on the potty. I have to carry the kid out of the bathroom screaming because of the dang potty chair! Oh the joy, I guess we will just have to see where this all leads us!!