The Kashuba Family

Christmas

2012-02-01T12:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was busy, busy. We flew to Connecticut, which is where Corey and I both grew up. We stayed with his grandparents and got to visit with his Dad and his family, and some friends. Christmas Eve and morning was spent with Corey's Dad's family. And Christmas dinner was spent with Corey's Mom's side of the family. Benjamin was spoiled rotten by both sides. He is such a lucky little boy to have so many people that love him. Unfortunately, he is at that stage where he prefers to only be with mom or dad so it was next to impossible to get good pics of him with his extended family. The trip went by super quick!

When we got back to Arizona we drove right up to spend the New Year's weekend with my parents. It is always fun to spend time with the family. Here are some pics from our trip to CT!

A couple pics from Friendly's, one of my favorite restaurants of all time! They have the best chicken strips, honey mustard sauce and peanut butter topping for ice cream. We went to Friendly's 3x while in CT! Sounds a little crazy, I know, but is was soooo good! We did manage to go to a different Friendly's each time! Ben enjoyed it too!

Here is me helping Ben open some Christmas gifts Christmas night.
Sorry these pics are out of order! Isn't he so cute sleeping on his Dad? This is on the way home! He wouldn't ever fall asleep on my shoulder, only his Daddy!
Here is Ben playing with some toys at Nanny and Pop's house! He loved exploring their place!
Here is Ben sharing some of his candy with Dad Christmas morning.
Here is Ben opening gifts Christmas morning!

Another pic of Ben opening Christmas gifts after Christmas dinner

Corey's Bday

2012-02-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

Corey's birthday was in December. He got to celebrate his Birthday/Christmas with his Mom the weekend before and on his actual birthday with me and some of my family. Here he is with his ice cream cake- a must for Corey's birthday. It was yummy!

Another one on the way...

2011-12-17T19:47:00.000-08:00

I know I have not blogged in a while, but I have a good excuse. I have been super tired and sick these last few weeks because I am pregnant! I will be 11 weeks this upcoming Tuesday and my due date is in July.

So far the baby is doing well, although it is still early... The baby has a strong heart beat which is always good. We will know more at our next ultrasound. We are excited to have another bundle of joy and for Ben to have a brother or sister. Pretty soon we will need to make up another baby room!

However, i have to admit i am not enjoying being pregnant at all. With Ben I only recall being sick for the last couple weeks of my first trimester. But with this one I have been sick for the last 4 weeks and counting... I don't vomit at all-I have a strong stomach. But, the stomach pain is practically ongoing all day everyday with it being the worst in the morning, after lunch and especially around dinner time. And as if stomach issues were not enough, I have been super tired and for some reason my back has been killing me... It has definatley been difficult taking care of my non-stop toddler while feeling so run down all the time. But, I am hopeful that I will feel better in a few weeeks.

Sorry I have no pics to accompany this, but I will give you a summary of our Thanksgiving. We drove up to Utah and stayed with my sister Katie and her family. It was great to see my cute nieces! We had Thanksgiving at her place. We also got to see my brother's family and his new baby boy. We got to be there for the baby blessing which was awesome! I would love to say it was a great trip and visit to see my family, and it would have been if I hadn't been feeling terrible the whole time...but oh well. Next year I plan on being able to more fully enjoy Thanksgiving. Christmas is just around the corner for us and we are so excited. I love Christmas! I think Ben is still too young to get excited about opening gifts, but he always enjoys new things to play with, so I am sure it will still be fun!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

For Halloween and our Ward party (which was tonight) we dressed up as Mario (Corey), Luigi (Ben), and Princess Peach (Me). So, I made our costumes. Above is the dress I sewed. It came out pretty good I think. It is by no means professionally done. There are a lot of flaws if you look closely. But, it was my first time sewing such a big project and my first time using a pattern. A shout out goes out to my sister Kate, who walked me through the pattern. Without her help, I would have been totally lost. In the pic there are wet spots because I took the pic after wearing it to our church party and Ben got some chocolate on it.

Here is a picture of us at the ward party.This is our pumpkin we carved. We did K for Kashuba, duh! Behind us you can see a wreath I made too!
Here is Corey taking the guts out. Ben mostly watched. I mostly watched too. corey was doing such a good job all by himself. Oh, I did clean the lid.Here is Ben at the Pumpkin patch, helping pick out our pumpkin.

Here is Ben on his first hay ride. These pics are out of order. we did the hay ride, then picked the pumpkin, then carved it, then went to the ward party. LOL.

2011-10-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few pictures of Ben from our trip to northern Arizona to see my mom. We kept busy while we were there helping my mom move in. Ben got to play with his cousins and his Aunt and Uncle.

Kindle Case

2011-09-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

Check it out! This is my most recent sewing project and by the far the most difficult one I have tackled so far (still a beginner, after all). It is a Kindle Case. I got the pattern from www.modabakeshop.com (the bookkeeper post).Obviously, I did not do the flower part, but I can always add it later if I feel like it. I did put my own twist on it by putting magnets on the inside of the fabric, at the corners of the cover, to help keep the cover closed. I love how functional it is. Now I can put my kindle in my purse or diaper bag without it getting beat up! It did not come out as prefect as I would have liked, but for a beginner I think it came out pretty good! Now to make a cover for my laptop!

labor day weekend

2011-09-11T20:02:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend was super busy! We went camping Friday and Saturday night with some friends. It was so fun! We hung out by the campfire, played volleyball, frisbee, catch. It was a long day Saturday and Ben got super dirty. We were all super tired by the end. We also got visited by a racoon two nights in a row. The second night it was brave enough to come out while we were all still awake and by the fire. The boys chased it off.
Sunday and Monday we got to spend time with Corey's Dad. Ben got to see his grandpa from CT for the first time! We also went out to eat as a family to Native New Yorker. Corey loves their wings.

Me, Corey, Ben, and Grandpa

Ben and Corey playing football
Ben trying to grab the shovel from Corey
Matt chillin
Ben, the outdoorsman

Ben, Me, and Corey out for a walk in the woods

Aquarium

2011-08-28T16:28:00.001-07:00

On Saturday Corey, Ben, and I went to the small SeaLife Aquarium in Tempe. It was also Ben's first outing in his new forward facing car seat. He really like being able to see Mom and Dad in the car! Ben really enjoyed looking at all the fish and sea creatures. They had some small sharks and the biggest crabs I have ever seen! They even had starfish you could touch.There is one spot where you walk through a tunnel inside onw of the aquarium tanks so you can see fish below and all around you. Ben was afraid to walk right on the tunnel at first, since it looks like there is no floor, but then he was captivated by all the fish swimming around him. It was cool to go check it out, since we had never been. I got us two tickets for $5 through Groupon, for that price it was worth it. But, I don't know if I would ever pay the door ticket price of $18 per person. It is not a huge aquarium.
After the aquarium, we went to Red Robin for dinner. Ben shared my clucks and fries with me and all 3 of us shared a milkshake. Yum!

Sitting with Dad in the restaurant.
A pic with Mom and the fishes!

He is getting so big!

Ben is One

2011-08-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

Ben playing with one of his birthday gifts
Ben opening birthday gifts (with Dad's help)
Ben sampling some birthday cake with Dad
Ben with Mom
Ben looking at his birthday cake.

Ben turned one year old today. I cannot believe it has already been a year! Time has gone by so fast. I am blessed to have such a wonderful little boy in my life. He is so fun! Today he went to the doctor for his one year check up and he weighs 22 pounds! He is in the 50percentile for height and weight so he is perfect!

He is such a lucky boy that he got two birthday parties. We celebrated with Corey's mom and her family on Saturday (the top two pics are from then) and today he ate the cake that I made him. As you can tell, he loved it. I don't give him treats like ever, so he was really enjoying that cake!

He got a lot of wonderful gifts. We got him a kiddie pool with some pool toys so he can stay cool in the summer heat. From other family members he got some clothes, toys, and books. He is such a happy little baby and so loved by his family near and far.

The worst part about his birthday was that he and I both have colds, but we still had a fun day despite our sniffles.

Love you Ben! Happy Birthday!

Yosemite/Sequioa/Vegas Vacation

2011-06-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures from my family's vacation. Some are from the pool in Vegas, others are from the Sequioa Forest, and some are from Yosemite. I hiked half-dome with the cables down. There is a picture of me with my two sisters at the top of half dome.

May Day

2011-05-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

Ben is seeming less and less like a little baby each day. He does a lot of baby talk. He has learned that if he does not want or like the food on his high chair, he can hand it to the dog. Or, even better, he will try to hand it to me. He is very curious and has a lot of energy. He certainly tires me out. Below, there are pics of Ben with his dad, and him playing witht he dog's water bowl

babywise

2011-04-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

Now that I have been a Mom for almost 9 months, I wanted to take a chance and reflect on my Babywise experience. For those of you who don't know, Babywise is a book with a certain methodology on how to schedule your baby's day to encourage a happy, healthy baby that sleeps through the night. First of all, I read the majority of the book before Ben was born and agreed with the methodology quite a bit, especially since my sister recommended it. I did not read the sections on reflux and multiple births before he was born since I knew I only had one baby in my tummy and I figured, "What are the chances he'll have reflux?"

Anyway, once Ben was born I did my best to follow Babywise. I wasn't perfect, especially when it came to crying it out. But I did follow the eat, awake, sleep routine as much as possible, tried to stick to the 2.5 hour space between feedings, and I put him down in his crib, awake, with no passifier, 70-80% of the time.

According to Babywise, babies on this kind of routine sleep through the night by 12 weeks and take 1.5 to 2 hour naps during the day.

Ben was not the typical baby. Despite my efforts, by one month old Ben would only nap for 45 minutes at a time, no matter what I did. Also, he woke up every couple hours at night to eat. Plus, he would be up until 11:00 at night and would scream during feeding time. Also, he would nurse for 45 minutes to an hour at each feeding. Ben was also starting to spit up, a lot. Before I could even get him off the breast to burp him, he would spit up. And he would keep spitting up the whole time he was awake. Even 30 minutes after eating, if I laid him on the floor, he would spit up all over himself. I was going through clothes and spit up cloths like crazy.

After talking with my sister, she suggested Ben may have reflux. I went ahead and read the section on reflux and yep, Ben fit the bill. So, we switched from an attempted 2.5 hour schedule to a 2 hour feeding schedule. For about 3 months Ben would be awake for 1.25 hours, asleep for .75 hours and then up again. And, he was still taking 45 minutes to eat.
We also put Ben on reflux medication. The medication did not stop the spitting up, but it did help with not fussing during feeding time. No more crying after eating for Ben, Yeah! Also, it helped him feel better so that he was more relaxed at night, and went to bed easier. It was amazing. After a week of being on the medication, he went from being up until 11:00 fussing, to waking up and eating around 8:00 and falling back to sleep practically as I fed him. It was such a change. His tummy wasn't hurting him at night, so he slept better.

Despite keeping to a strict schedule, naps did not improve until Ben was almost 6 months old.
And, there was no end in sight to night time feedings. At four months old we did crying it out to drop the second night time feeding. 6 nights of crying and no luck. So, I gave up for the time being. I decided, because of his reflux, he was not ready to go that long without a feeding.

As my husband can attest, there were many times where I thought about throwing in the towel. Despite my Babywise attempts, my baby still ate twice at night when, according to babywise, he should be sleeping 9-10 hours straight with no feeding. Eventually I came to terms and decided that Ben just was not the typical babywise baby. I had a love-hate relationship with the book. I read sections over and over again to make sure I was doing things right, but also got frustrated with the book because it was written as an ideal situation. what I needed was a troubleshooting book, not a picture of what the perfect baby would do if I did A. I needed a book that told me what to do if after doing A, my baby did B, and how to get my baby to do C. But, alas, as a new Mom, I had to figure out how to work with my baby.

Let me pause here and say Ben is a wonderful baby. He is a happy little boy and such a joy. And i love him dearly. I just really wanted good naps so I could get some stuff done during the day and some uninterrrupted sleep at night.

It has been an uphill battle, but today, when Ben is nearly nine months old, I think all of my hard work was worth it. I am still nursing Ben more than the typical nine month old should be and he still does not sleep 9 hours without a feeding, but we are getting there.
His reflux is basically gone. No more spitting up, yeah! And, no more medication, yeah! He is now going 7-8 hours at night without a feeding (80% of the time), which has been wonderful for me.
The best part of all, Ben takes two naps a day. Each 1.5 - 2 hours long! His naps are perfect and wonderful for me! I can actually work out, shower, and do my hair. All before he wakes up! It has been amazing. He has been napping well for the past 3 months (minus my visit to my moms). His naps during the day have allowed me to gain back some of my sanity and the better night time sleep also helps.
And, he can go to bed for his naps and at night without a passifier. I go through our routine, put him in his crib awake and he either goes right to sleep or might fuss for a couple minutes, but that is it!
And, I must say I think it is because of Babywise. It may have taken nine months, but scheduling is well worth it. Especially since I am a type A personality, I love a schedule. I like to know what comes next. There are still hiccups sometimes. Going to church, or doing other things that mess up the schedule, sometimes have consequences that last a day or two. But when it is a typical day, Ben is a good napper and a happy baby! Which makes me a happy Mamma!

Now, our next battles are dropping the 11:00 night time feeding and weaning...

Easter

2011-04-26T08:47:00.001-07:00

Easter morning was fun at our place. Ben got his first Easter basket. He got a couple toys and some teething biscuits. You can see him enjoying one of his biscuits in the pictures. The Easter bunny brought mommy and daddy some candy too!
Of course, Easter is not all about candy and toys. It is about the sacrifice Jesus made for us. I am so thankful that I know about the Savior and what He did for us, especially when I think about Corey and my baby boy. Life is more precious and important because of what I know.

Fun with Ben

2011-04-12T20:34:00.001-07:00

Ben is more and more fun each day. He is also more and more active each day as he becoems more mobile. He loves to get into everything!

Ben loves the dog's stuff, including her bed.
Ben and I
Climbing the stairs all by himself

He loves to pull himself to stand on anything, including the fridge.

Texas

2011-04-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

Ben and I went to Texas during Spring Break to visit my family. It was a lot of fun. While there Ben learned to crawl and went on the swings for the first time!

Ben is on the move

2011-03-31T09:56:00.000-07:00

The past couple weeks for Ben have been huge. Ben and I have been in Texas visiting Ben's grandparents. Ben got to play with his Uncles James and Matt and Aunt Lauren. It was great to hang with the family. Ben especially loved being spoiled by his grandma. While we were in Texas Ben learned how to crawl, sit up on his own, say "mumma", and pull himself up to standing (depending on what he has to hold on to). Now that we are home, he is crawling all over the place! And anything on the floor is fair game for going in his mouth. I guess it is time to baby proof the house. It is amazing how quickly he is learning and it is so fun to watch.

We miss Grandma and Grandpa, but it is so nice to see my hubby again and be back home.

Ben is crawling!

2011-03-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

Ben

2011-03-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

Ben has been able to roll over for a few months, but this past week he has become a pro. He is starting to move around the room by rolling. He is such a smart little boy!

A tooth

2011-02-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

Ben officially has a tooth! You can see and feel just a little bit of one of his front bottom teeth.

6 months already?

2011-02-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe it has been 6 months already! Time has flown by. Ben has gone from being a helpless little baby to a baby that wants to touch and play with everything. Ben is ticklish and will laugh out loud when he is in the mood-he especially loves being tickled by his Daddy's beard. As you can see in the pictures, he can now sit up by himself. He still topples over if he loses his balance, but he gets better at it everyday. No crawling yet, but he can scooch backwards a little bit when he is on his belly. He is still waking up in the middle of the night, this week I will try have him cry it out(again)and hope it works.
Ben went to the doctor on friday and got 5 shots, he weighs 17 pounds 12 oz and is in the 50% for height and weight.
Ben has been eating cereal like a champ for a while, but this week we started to introduce him to veggies. So far he has tried squash and carrots. He does a good job of eating, but makes a funny face when you first give him something different.

Corey is now glasses free after having lasik done on Friday. He is super thrilled so far with how well he can see.
I am getting a treadmill as part of my attempt to lose the baby weight. My goal is to fit into my old pants by May 1st.

Ben smiling!

Ben is starting to try and lift up his butt so that he can be on all fours, but most of the time he stays on his belly.

Abby tries to get me to throw her a ball while ben plays with his toy.

Ben grabs Abby's frisbee. He loves to play with things that he is not supposed to play with.

Abby waits eagerly for Ben to throw her the frisbee. Sorry Abby, you'll need to wait another year or two.

Christmas photos

2011-01-11T13:05:00.001-08:00

Christmas Pictures

2011-01-08T16:56:00.000-08:00

All the Christmas pics have been moved to the slideshow except these two. Christams in Texas was great. It was wonderful to see my whole family. Ben got to see all his Uncles and Aunts and meet his 3 cousins. We had a lot of fun. While there we also got to celebrate Corey's birthday and Corey gave Ben his baby blessing with the help of my Dad, Ryan, and Jeff.

Christmas is almost here

2010-12-13T20:55:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas! This year I took on the project of making Corey and I Christmas sotckings. Ben's great grandmother made knitted him a stocking, but I had yet to make ones for Corey and I since we have been married. So, since I have a sewing machine I went ahead and took on the project. I finally finished them tonight. They took a lot longer to make then I thought they would, but I had to do it all during Ben's naps. I made my own pattern to save some money and went from there. They did not come out perfectly, but I am satisfied with them. You can see how they look below.

Also, Corey and I took our own Christmas pictures this year. The one of Ben is super cute. He is so adorable! I took the picture while Dad got him to smile. They family one was a little bit more challenging to take with a 10 second timer on the camera and no one standing there to make Ben smile. We quit once we got a focused picture with all of us at least looking forward. Those pics are below too.

Ben had his four month check up one week ago. He weighed 16 pounds 8 ounces, 25 inches long. He is doing great! He is starting to baby talk a lot and laughs when I tickle him. Ben has started eating baby cereal at dinner time and is getting the hang of that. Ben is also now reaching for things that are within his grasp, whether it is a toy or the dog Abby.He is such an amazing little boy to watch grow!

Corey and I have done most of our Christmas shopping. We even went to Babies R Us this past weekend and got Ben some new toys. And I made pumpkin bread for Corey's coworkers. We have been busy-busy-busy!

Three Months Old

2010-11-19T11:28:00.000-08:00

What a cute smile! And I love his outfit-thanks Great Nanny!

In this picture he is playing with a Christmas book he got from Grandma.

This is my favorite picture. He just got out of the bath and looks like an angel!

Ben is now 3.5 months old and he gets bigger everyday. He is already wearing 6 and 9 month old clothes! (I think they don't size them quite right) He is so fun to be around. He smiles a ton and loves to spend time with his mom and dad. He can hold some toys in his hands and has figured out how to put his fingers in his mouth. He is such a happy baby which makes Corey and I happy too!

Ben in Texas

2010-11-08T20:29:00.000-08:00

For the last two weeks of October Ben and I went to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Texas. We had a lot of fun. Ben went to the beach for the first time and went to his first trunk or treat.

Ben

2010-10-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

Ben is now over two months old! He had his 2 month check up on Tuesday and he weighed 12 lbs 14 oz. By today he is probably over 13 lbs! He had 5 shots and only cried for a couple minutes. But, he was fussy the rest of the day because his legs hurt. He is getting stronger everyday. Today during tummy time he rolled over from his belly to his back 5 times in a row!

2010-09-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

Ben around 1 month old

2010-09-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Benjamin! Isn't he sooo cute?

Corey feeding Ben

Ben in his swing!

Ben with his Dad

Ben has been doing great and is now over a month old! I am so glad he is a healthy, happy baby boy! I am also so grateful for my awesome husband who is more willing to change diapers than I could have imagined and for giving me abreak when I need one! I am so happy I have my Mom too-she was the greatest mom and grandma ever when she was here, and continues to be super supportive of me via phone calls!

Ben

2010-08-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Gregg Kashuba

2010-08-07T15:30:00.000-07:00

It took him a little longer than we thought it would, but he finally came! He was born on August 4th. He weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 20.5 inches long. I went into labor at 10:30 pm on Tuesday and he was born 5 hours later!

baby room pics!

2010-07-29T20:23:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the baby's room Corey painted a couple weeks ago.

Finally pictures of the yard and new POOL!!!!!!

2010-06-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

It may have taken us a full year to show the pictures of our yard landscaped, but now we have the addition of our new pool and figured we should fill everyone in. I know there are brown spots in our yard but in all fairness it was 110 degrees out this week and we live in the desert. I now feel like a blogging expert... I now have my first blog in the record books.

- Corey

29 Weeks Pregnant!

2010-05-19T19:10:00.001-07:00

My First Tomato

2010-05-19T19:08:00.001-07:00

My very own tomato from my tomato plant!

Our 1st Campout

2010-05-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

Pics from our 1st campout with our ward. It was fun, but cold at night!

My Birthday Cake

2010-05-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

Here is the cake Corey made for my birthday in April.

Pics from Trip to Utah in March

2010-05-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

It's a BOY

2010-02-25T17:22:00.000-08:00

I guess that is all there is to say...Corey is super stoked. Our little one will be wearing Yankee gear in no time!

Tomatoes

2010-02-21T10:20:00.000-08:00

I am taking my first step into gardening (a small, baby step). In our backyard we have a space set aside for a garden, but I have like 0 gardening expertise, so I decided to start slow with a tomato plant. I bought a small tomato plant and planted it in a pot. Now I just need to take care of it and in 50 days (if I don't kill it) maybe we will have tomatoes. YA!!! I am excited!

Are we ready to be parents? Too late to ask now.

2010-02-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

So Corey and I finally decided to take the leap into parenthood. We have known about the babe in my belly for a while, but wanted to wait before we told everybody. I am 16 weeks along and so far everything is normal and going well. We have an ultrasound in 2 weeks where we will find out if it is a boy or a girl (provided he/she is not shy). My due date is July 29th. We are very excited and can't wait to know what it is so we can start getting clothes and stuff. If it is a boy, Corey will jump up and down and buy it a football. If it is a girl, he will probably cry. LOL, we will both be happy as long as it is healthy.

Stay tuned for the revealing of the sex on our blog!

2010-01-23T08:19:00.000-08:00

2010-01-23T08:18:00.000-08:00

Family

2009-11-17T16:17:00.000-08:00

Corey and I can't wait for Thanksgiving. We are going to my parents' house in TEXAS!! We are really excited to go visit them! And the best part is my whole family is going to be there...now if I could just get my face to clear up before family photos are taken :(
Don't worry about the dogs, we have a family friend house and dog sitting for us! Thanks Alex!

2009-11-07T19:39:00.002-08:00

I finally got a picture of the Boston Temple framed and hung up in our home. Doesn't it look so nice on my wall? Kudos to Ryan (my brother in law) who took the pics. And kudos to Corey for being patient and hanging everything up just the way I wanted it!

Family Home Evening-Pumpkin carving

2009-10-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

Corey and I carved pumpkins for FHE tonight. It was fun, especially since Corey broke out the power tools! You can see pics below!

2009-10-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

ROCK

2009-10-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

Corey and I completed the boarder around our backyard today. With the help of some friends we moved 17 tons of decorative rock into our backyard. Corey is a beast! And Corey and I set up the kiddie pool and went swimming...aka sat in the pool. It was very refreshing after a long day of moving rock! Now, my back is sore.

My Least Favorite day of the Week

2009-09-30T19:40:00.000-07:00

Wednesdays are my least favorite day of the week because Wednesdays are when Corey is at school all night. So, I feel lonely and sad because I am without my partner. I feel like a pea without the pod, a cracker without cheese, a chip without dip, fries without ketchup...well you get the idea...I miss him. Wednesdays seem to drag on forever!

Pump it Up

2009-09-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

Last night, Corey humored me and went to a work party with me! It was an odd work event because it was at a place called Pump it Up. It is a place where kids normally have parties. It has all the super huge blow up things like obstacle courses and boxing arenas with the super huge gloves. We had fun wearing ourselves out like we were little kids again. In the obstacle courses there was no question, I was the winner! The obstacle courses are made so two people can race each other through it and both times we did it I beat him by a long shot! GO ME!!! Wooh! But, when it came to the jousting and boxing arenas Corey beat me up pretty good! During jousting he nearly broke my finger! (My nail accidentally bent back, OUCH!) SO, I guess that marital dispute has been settled, although I am the quickest, Corey is the strongest! I'm not sure it was ever a debate...I think I already knew that.

The Best and the Worst thing all at once!

2009-09-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

I must share a story about what I think is the best and worst thing all at the same time. It is when my two puppies (who are no longer puppies) go in the back yard when the sprinklers are on! By the time I realize what has happened they are soaking wet and covered in mud and grass! They come to the doggy door and I stop them from coming in-just in time to save my floor from the mud! They stand there all wet and muddy with the happiest, goofiest grins on their faces like they were having a blast! That is the best thing-those silly grins on their faces! The worst part though is knowing I have to go out in the back yard and hose all the mud off before they can come inside! LOL, I love those 2 poochies!

Not much going on...

2009-09-11T22:28:00.000-07:00

I feel terrible...I have not blogged in what feels like forever! The last 3 weeks have been super busy with me. I feel like I have been working non-stop since the new school year started. Being a teacher so far is going well, my students have not made me cry...yet. The toughest part of the job is trying to teach everything I need to in one school day and getting all the of my work done within a day. Needless to say, I spend 10 or more houtrs at work a day. I think things well get better, time wise, as the year goes on and I get ina smoother routine for grading papers, preping my classroom, etc. There is one good thing about being so busy, the day goes by super fast. But, enough about work...at least enough about my work!

Corey officially received a promotion this past week. He is very excited to be doing something new at work and showing what he can do. He is so amazing! That is why I love him...so, so much! He is my sweetie pie!

Work

2009-08-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

So, I have just completed my first week of new teacher training and I have one more week to go. The training for the reading program is a little tough to sit through but I am really excited to use the program in my class. I am also very excited about my 3rd grade team. My fellow 3rd grade teachers have been so helpful with answering my questions. I am also looking forward to being in a brand new school with a new classroom. I just hope I can make it look welcoming and fun for my students!

Family Vaca

2009-08-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

A week ago Corey and I went on vacation with my family. We went to the Grand Canyon National Park and Zion's National Park. It was really neat to see the Grand canyon and it was soo fun to see my family and spend some time with them. It was a lot fo fun. While at Zion's we went Canyoneering which was the craziest thing I have ever done. Below is a slide show of some of the pics I took on vacation.

Vacation

2009-08-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

midnight madness

2009-07-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

Like many people in the world I am a fan of Harry Potter. I read all the books and have seen the movies. I am also excited to see the new movie that has been released. However, I do not understand the crazy people who go to see a movie in the middle of the week at midnight. Yes, I am excited for it, but not sooo excited that I want to lose sleep just so I can be one of the first to see it. I mean yes, it is a classic series full of teenage love, magic, and bad guys, but come on...let's not forget it is just a movie. And, to just see a movie I am happy to wait a week or two before going to the theater to see it. Mostly, to avoid all the crazy fans and annoying teenagers who will be seeing the movie the first weekend it comes out. There is nothing worse than a teenie-bopper sitting behind you shouting out she loves Harry in the middle of your movie theater experience.

breakthrough

2009-07-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a huge breakthrough at our house. Yesterday was the first time Roxy went in and out of the doggie door all by herself!!!! It was AMAZING! Normally, to get her to go through the doggie door I have to lift up the flap and coax her to go through. I think it will still take a few more weeks before she figures out that she can go in and out whenever she wants but we are making progress.

foster care

2009-07-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

Corey and I are fostering a child starting today...ending in 6 months (possibly). Some of you may know him, his name is Alex Bryson. He is 20 years old I think...or maybe 19...
Anyway, so technically he is not a child, and technically we are not his foster parents, but Corey and I have taken him into our home. He is actually more like a brother to us seeing as our families have crossed paths so frequently and he is too old to be our unrelated nephew.
We think it will be fun. Corey and I have pretty boring lives so this should no doubt add a little bit more spice to life...I mean look at what it has done already, it gave me something to blog about.

So far he has been sleeping.

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

I am sooo happy this weekend because...
1) Corey is back from CT!!! so, I am no longer lonely!!!
2) Corey's Mom is all moved in in her new house down the street...and is making some tasty food for our BBQ...which leads to #3
3) It is the 4th of July so we are BBQing...the usual of course...hotdogs and hamburgers!!
4) We have our friends from Sahuarita here spening the holiday with us!
5) We are going to see fireworks!! I love fireworks...and yet I am a little afraid of them when they go BOOM too loud!!!!
6) I have my freedom, which so many fought to protect...and keep fighting for.

And those are the reasons I am happy this weekend! Happy Independance Day!

Grass in the Backyard

2009-06-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Daunting Tasks

2009-06-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

So, Corey and I, in an attempt to get our backyard done and grassy as soon as possible, plan to in the next couple days level our backyard with some dirt, put up a border and lay down seed and HOPE for the best! I look forward to it being done, but I do not look forward to sweating to death as I haul dirt, lay rock, and spread seed! I must say though I would rather do it myself than pay someone!

Oh and another update: We got our trash bins delivered today! It is pretty sweet to get brand new trash receptacles of my very own-now I just have to call Waste Management and find out what can go in the recycle bin!!! I am sooo excited

WeEkEnD

2009-06-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy weekend. I spent Friday and Saturday at the Arizona Teaching Expo with one of my friends. It was fun and I got some cool teaching supplies. Corey was a very busy bee on Saturday. He put in our whole backyard sprinkler system!!! We are hoping to have the backyard mostly done by the end of June.

We also put in the doggie door. Abby figured it out pretty quick because she is sooo smart, but Roxy is a little afraid of it. I think it will take some work to get her to use it.
Roxy is also afraid of the garage now that the garage door opener is installed.

Today Corey and I went to our new ward and now we are relaxing.

I will finish my post with a joke: Why were the Dark Ages so dark?

...because there were so many KNIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

haha...i thought it was funny

THREE YEARS

2009-06-11T10:52:00.002-07:00

Corey and I celebrated our third year anniversary yesterday!!!!! We celebrated by wacthing a chick flick (which turned out to be a crappy movie..oh well). We snuggled on the couch together while we enjoyed homemade ice cream sundaes.

We also discussed celebrating our third year by getting a third dog! HAHA...just kidding...I think 2 poochies is enough for me...kids on the other hand...well...we wll see about that! Haha!

Also, for today I am creating my first Crock Pot meal. It is the recipe my sister Katie gave me for pulled pork. Hopefully mine comes out as tasty as my sisters.

2009-06-11T10:52:00.001-07:00

Chillin

2009-06-11T10:43:00.001-07:00

The dogs and I are chillin right now. Most of the boxes are unpacked and we just got our internet hooked up so I am getting reconnected with the cyberworld. You dont realize how much you miss the internet until you go without it for a week.

99.9% Done

2009-06-02T22:03:00.001-07:00

Construction Almost DONE!!!!

2009-05-17T17:05:00.001-07:00

Current Construction

2009-05-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

Updated Construction

2009-04-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

Framed House

2009-03-29T19:13:00.001-07:00

Construction

2009-03-29T19:07:00.002-07:00

As many of you know Corey and I are in the process of building our first home. As youc an see from the pictures the framing is almost done. Corey and I walked through the framing on Friday. It was cool to walk through our future home. It is expected to be completed in the next 2 months. We are soooo excited!! Abby and Roxy are excited to have a new yard too.

2009-03-29T19:07:00.001-07:00

Spring Break

2009-03-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I went to my parents' new home in Texas to visit. It was a lot of fun. I got to see all of my siblings (even the ones who live in Utah) an my two nieces! We all got to be home for my Mom's Birthay which was really special for her I think. I spent the week hanging out and shopping with my Mom which was a lot of fun. It was nice to spend some quality time with her. And of course it was great to see my Dad and it was also great to spend time with my siblings Lauren, James, an Matt. Unfortunately, Corey could not come due to having to work and us needing someone to take care of the dogs. But, he was a good sport and took care of the puppies all week and he even cleaned the house for when I got home! He is so great. :)

2008-12-24T10:10:00.001-08:00

Corey's Birthday!

2008-12-24T09:47:00.000-08:00

Corey celebrated his 22nd Birthday on Sunday. We celebrated by going to the movies and out to dinner the night before and we had birthday cake Sunday night.

Our New Puppy

2008-12-12T10:08:00.000-08:00

Corey and I added a new member to our family. Her name is Roxy and she is an Olde English Bulldogge. She is almost 4 months old. When we brought her home Abby wagged her tail like crazy like it was a present for her. So far they get along pretty well. She is sooo cute and she loves to give you kisses. She weighs about 25 lbs right now. She is tan all over with some black in her face. There are some pictures of her in the slideshow below.

2008-12-12T10:07:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Break

2008-12-12T09:50:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving Corey and I drove up to Utah to see my sister Katier's family and my brother Jeff's family. It was a lot of fun and it was great to see my niece Rachel and my niece Kylie. The trip out was pretty long but we got to see the Hoover damn which was pretty cool. We had Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. The boys went into the Mountains to cut down Christmas trees while Katie and I cooked all morning. It was a lot of fun. That night we went to Jeff's house and all had pie together. It was great to see everyone. There is a slideshow of some of the pics from Thanksgiving below.

2008-12-12T09:49:00.000-08:00

2008-10-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

I started my new job as a reading assistant a week and a half ago. It's a pretty easy job and I get along well with the people I work with. So...now I am just waiting on getting my teaching license in the mail. Corey and I saw the Bryson's last weekend b/c Trev just got back from the Mission. We got to see Zac, Weezie, and Alex who flew to AZ to see their family. It was way fun. We played games and hung out. Corey is currently watching baseball. Abby is sleeping on the floor. I have been out of school for a couple months now, but I get this feeling all the time like I have homework to do or lesson plans to write...but I don't. It's weird. Corey is trying to convince me to get him a dog for Christmas. I tell him we already have a dog, and then he says I have a dog, he wants his own. Corey and I are excited to go to Utah for thanksgiving to my sister Katies family and my brother Jeff's family.

2008-10-06T12:55:00.001-07:00

2008-09-18T16:38:00.001-07:00

Just Moved In

2008-09-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

My husband and I have finally settled into our new apartment. Corey's first full week of work is complete. Also, yesterday was his first night back to school. Abby is quite happy here with the nice dog park. She gets to run around there at least once a day. I myself am currently searching for a job and enjoying life as a "trophy wife" as my brother put it. LOL