Just for Starters Summer 2009

Life has been crazy busy this summer, thus, once again I have fallen off the blogging band wagon. So here is a quick catch-up blog of what has been going on this summer. B-rex is 6 months old. He is definitely a chubby checkers. He almost weighs 20lbs. He LOVES his food as evidenced by his chubby cheeks. You also might notice the rolls on his arms, wrist, neck, and legs. He sits by himself, rolls all over the place, and is so close to crawling. His personality keeps us all laughing.
This is face after he realizes there is no more food :(


Loves going out to do chores with dad.
6 months is the funnest age. So far he loves everything. I cannot feed him fast enough. He literally grabs cries the second you take the spoon out of his mouth until the next bite gets there. Besides baby food he loves the taste of cheetos, horseradish, carrots, Texas roadhouse rolls, watermelon, and rootbeer popcycles.


He is trying to crawl but can only face plant at this point. But who wouldn't being top heavy in the cheek area.

Summer nights and rodeo season is our favorite time of the year. We recently went to a 3 day rodeo in Southern Utah where Brex got to sit aboard his very first saddle. He really did like it he was just crying because it wasn't on a horse.

I have been racing on Tig and Smoke. They are my other babies. They are easy going at home but in competition they are like a fresh lit roman candle - hang on tight!




We love taking the horses for a ride in the mountains. The last time we went was a little scary though. Out of no where this crazy coyote or fox (not sure which) started chasing right behind us barking. (I think he was calling for reinforcement). I tried to tell him this was not "dances with wolves" and Marshal was not "Kevin Costner" but he insisted on following us. We saw a lot of dear, a buck or two, only one snake, and a rabbit.
Nice view of Malad behind Lance -

One tall drink of water -

3 Amigos, Dad, Lance, and Big M.

One Lucky Girl ! ! !

June 2nd was our 9th Anniversary. Since I know Marshal doesn't ever look at our blog I know I can write about a few of the things I love about him and MY version of how it all started. When we get old and gray I want our kids to be able to read about how great there dad was.



9 years ago I was sitting at an Institute Fireside that Marshals' mom happened to be speaking at. She did an amazing job and I thought "wow" I would love to meet her. Un-be-knownst to me at the time Marshal was there with his girlfriend.

A few weeks passed and Adrianne and Bryson who were busy planning a wedding said they wanted to set Marsh and I up on a date. At the time Bryson and Marshal played basketball together for Ricks College and were roomates. Well I said "No way" for 2 reasons. One I did not want to date a basketball player and 2 I didn't want to date someone with red-hair.

Well Adrianne did some persuading and said maybe this way I would get to meet his mom so I agreed to 1 date.

It started out as a typical first date with dinner at Wingers and a movie than we headed over to Ad's apartment to hang out. Well that is when he decided to go in for the kill and HE Kissed ME. He tries to claim it was the other way around but how can someone who is 5'4" reach way up there to kiss someone who is 6'4".

The next day he called and asked me out again. I said No. He was persistent and called me on Sunday to see if he could come over before heading back to Ricks, I said No again because I had another date coming over. Well Marshal showed up at my apartment uninvited and told my other date to go home and well I ended up with a basketball player who is smart both on and off the court and whose red hair I just love. We haven't spent a day apart since.



Here are my 9 Favorite Qualities about Big M:

1. I know Marshal really really loves Brex and I. He goes out of his way to take care of us. I never have to fill my car up with gas. He always helps clean the house and do laundry. I have never in 9 years ever had to pay a bill. He gets my car door everytime. He never lets me lift anything heavy. He never gives me a generic gift but instead works hard to find something he knows I really want. He loves spending every last minute with Brex, feeding him, doing chores with strapped to his belly, and even loves watching ESPN with him in the middle of the night.


2. He loves the gospel. He is very tenderhearted and compassionate. A few years ago his sister died and since then he said he has learned life is short and he doesn't want to waste great opportunities or have regrets. He gives really great talks and literally prepares them right before he gives them. On a weekly basis he does lots of service helping neighbors, friends, the young men, elders quorum, and anyone else who knows his cell number.


3. He makes HARDWORK look EASY. He can work circles around anyone. A few years ago he decided he was going to start his own business. I told him he was up in the night. Once again I was wrong and now I love that he has his own business because he is home with us so much more.




4. He is SMART with Money. He went to school to be an account because he loves numbers. He is organized, meticulous, and a penny pincher. He is a firm believer in saving money and getting our food storage together. We decided when we got married that we would only Live on what he makes and never depend on my income. He loves driving his little white "Economy" car to work everyday. Most people wouldn't be caught dead in this car and he says people always laugh when they pass him because he barely fits in it; but he just replies "well I just laugh back at them when I'm taking my money to the bank".


5. He is handsome and has a huge infectious smile. Everyone says Brex looks just like his daddy and I am grateful for that. I hope all our kids look like, act like, and grow up to be just like him.

6. He is Mr Layed Back. No matter what comes his way he takes everything in stride. He is easy-going and rarely gets worked up about things.

7. He is always game for FUN. He loves going out and being adventurous. Horse back riding, camping, traveling, running, group dates. He just never complains. Last year he had Surgery and the Very Next day he insisted on going to Utah to watch me Barrel Racing. He sat in the stands in lots of pain with an Ice-Bag on his stomach in Freezing cold weather with a smile on his face.


8. He treats people really good. Whether you are rich, poor, crazy or whatever ... he treats everyone he is around really good. He is always able to find the best and bring out the best in people.



9. He is humble. I have never heard him talk about himself or the things he is good at. In fact I don't think he is even aware of how great a person he is.

I really lucked out when I was blessed enough to marry such a great guy. If I had the chance to do it again, I would without a doubt choose you again:)

Baby Blessing

After 3 1/2 months we finally decided to get the not so little baby Brex blessed. We heard every joke there is about him being big enough to walk himself up to the front to be blessed, but despite all the jokes we are glad we waited because we were able to avoid having him get sick.

Marshal gave an incredible blessing for the little guy.Even though he is so new to this earth, he has such a strong spirit about him. In the circle was a little help from Grandpa Wakley, Grandpa Myler, Uncles: Lance, Kurt D., Rick V., David Grant, Chris Anderson, Bryson Vaughan, & Brother Rod Wangsguard.



When sacrament was done we headed over to the elementary school for a great little dinner and some fun pictures.

Brex partying after the long day...


Janis and her Kids, Thanks so much for coming guys...


The boys eating up, we ordered a couple of 6" long hoggie sandwiches that were easy, quick, and really good.


Aunts and Uncles...


Ad with baby #3 on the way, she looks so dang good pregnant it really is not fair. Ad, we will just call this paybacks for the walking in on me naked at the Elms --- nope I still haven't forgotten that ---


Mom, Little Sister & Brother, and Marshals Fam...


Marshal and His Business Partner. Scott and Ashley you and your family are a great part of our life. Thanks for coming and being a part of all of it, we love ya.

At Long Last. . .

I am excited behind belief. I am officially 100% done with school - FOREVER -. I finished contract negotiation and will begin working as a Nurse Practitioner in June. I must admit 3 years ago I was terrified to go back and get my Masters Degree. Right before I started I ran across this quote that I taped on my mirror as a reminder to me. It goes: “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” I think we all experience times in which we wonder if we are good enough or capable of achieving our goals; but with hard work and preparation anything is possible!

This is my first official week of being Mommy and staying home to hang out with Brex. He is amazing. At just 3 1/2 months he sleeps 12 hours a night!!! Unbelievable you say, well I like to call it a sign of GOOD parenting (ha,ha.)!! He is always grinning. Last Sunday he went to all three meetings for the first time and loved it. He smiled at all the girls and talked through all the meetings. I would stick the binky in his mouth and he would proceed to talk around it. People were paying more attention to this cute little guy than the lesson. He is so much fun I don't know how we ever lived without him.

Here are a few of the happenings over the last few weeks:

Dads 53rd Birthday! At that age the part in his hair is getting pretty wide:) I can never get Brex to snuggle like that with me. We tell my dad he must be putting him in the sleeper hold because the second he is in grandpas arms it is – lights out -

My dad has taught us so much about hard work, unselfishness, and at the end of the day having a good laugh. He lives by the motto: "USE IT UP, WEAR IT OUT, MAKE DUE, OR DUE WITHOUT" So as you can see he found another use for the wrapping paper.

It has been great getting to spend more time with my little 'sis'. Her nickname is the "Rock" because she is very dependable and always helping other people. We are glad she makes time for us, she is a busy busy girl, working 3 jobs, just finished cosmetology school, and has a year left at ISU to get her bachelors degree in education.


Easter Dinner with Marshals family

One of my greatest pleasures since marrying Marshal is dinner at his moms! My idea of dinner consists of cheetos and gum (not joking) (you can check our cabinets), while Andrea makes meals that are mouth-wateringly delicious. I consider myself very lucky to have great in-laws.


Marshals Mom

Marshals sister Mikki, and her boys Carter and Mason.


Why is when a guy goes snowmobiling, he takes his brain out, puts it in the jockey box, and heads on his way???

Snowmobiling in April, crazy I know, but Marshal has been driving over to Wyoming with a bunch of guys to sled in 12 feet of snow. When you are snow-machining for 12 hours and going places only crazy people would go you know you are bound to get into trouble. One guys machine burnt to a crisp, and well Marshal went where no man should go and ended up having to leave his sled behind. My first thought was GOOD riddance!!! However; the next day he left at 3:30 AM to go back and get it. It took 3 other sleds to pull him out 80 miles, and took an entire 12+ hours to get the job done.

I am glad he got to have some fun doing something he enjoys but maybe next time he could scale it down a little.

Random pictures we have taken over the past few weeks:
Brex and Mommy
I have no idea where this kid got his scowl.

He is getting so big... here he is one day old with dad and three months later he has a MUFFIN TOP:)

First Day Out & Barrel Racing

Everywhere we go everyone says "Where is Brex??" Well he has been home away from the germs what do you think!! Working as a nurse and seeing lots and lots of RSV has us made is extra cautious.

Well last weekend it was warm and sunny so we decided to take Brex to his first Barrel Race! It was great fun, his first time in sunlight and freshair was a bit of a culture shock at first but as you can see by the picture he loved it! The whole day he was grinning from ear to ear and as you can imagine it attracted lots of visitors over to see him.



We started out at 10am and finished at 5pm. By this time he was beyond exhausted. He was a trooper and didn't fuss once but after he finally fell asleep he slept for a whole day.



He is always grinning now and it is so much fun. I think he looks at Marshal and I and thinks you guys don't know anything:) He might be right. But we sure love him.

B-rex

Everyone in our family goes by a nick name a tradition started by my dad years ago. Brex now has a nick name too. Before Marshal's cousin Rhett left for his mission he stopped by to see him and nick-named him B-Rex. He is growing so fast. Actually I should clarify he is gaining lots of weight, however he is a little on the short side. All of his cloths are getting way too tight (3-6 month size) and he is not quite 3 months yet, but they are all way to long. Marshal is concerned he might have my height and his build! We can't help but get a good laugh at his muffin top over his diaper as you can see in the picture.

Always Behind

As you can tell from the previous post I am a little behind on blogging. Brex is almost 3 months old. I had totally intended on keeping up our postings about life with Brex, but for anyone who knows me I'm always late. If I have to be somewhere at 8 and my clock say 7:59 in my head I seem to think I have lots of time left thus I always end up being late. Well life with Brex has made it ten times worse. It is quite a challenge to get us both ready for the day. However this is my LAST 2 weeks of school forever. I am planning on taking the month of May to just enjoy life, my family and friends and then in June I will start working 2 days a week in Pocatello. I am anxiously looking forward to finishing school to get caught up on all the things in life that are really important. So from here on out I am going to make it a point to keep up on blogging so Brex can look back and see what a great kid was and how he always kept us laughing.

Time Flies when....

I cannot believe that Brex is now 2 months old. I think he is really enjoying life on earth seeing as how he has everyone wrapped around his little finger. He is just so cute making him impossible to resist. So many things have happened over the past month. We Went to his 2 month check up. He must have know that "shots" were coming because he sure had a pretty dramatic crying episode as you will see by the picture. Dr Denton was great. Him and Brex were becoming good buddies. He was very impressed to note that Brex had gained 5 pounds and was now weighting in at 12 pounds. However dad was a little disappointed to hear that 75% of kids his age are taller than him. Here is some of his 2 month old highlights.

1. The awesome young women in our ward made Brex a very cute blanket that they hand delivered with homemade cookies. Thanks girls you guys are awesome and Brex loves snuggling with his blanket. Since Brex can't have cookies with his milk yet, Marshal made sure to finish them off:)



2. Brex Loves, Loves to bath. The deeper and warmer the water the happier he is. The second we try to lift him out of the tub the crying starts. Marshal will use the shower wand and spray him head to toe and he gets so excited. Marshal insisted on bathing with him every time, well,that is until Brex went #2 all over the tub and all over daddy!



3. Brex has quickly learned to sleep with one eye open. I will snuggle him at night before bed until he is sound asleep. When he is asleep to the point that nothing will wake him up, I very gently lay him in the crib and sure enough every single time one EYE opens. If myself or Marshal take even one step away from that crib the crying begins. There have been a few times when I was quit tired that I would threaten to get in the darn crib with him.

Everyone has adjusted to the "night owl" sleeping situation. Brex loves to party at 3am everynight on the dot. Marshal and I are good about working together. I get up for 3 or 4 nights in a row, then the next few nights I wake up and with both feet push him out of bed. With a little push he is great help. However Millie has not adjusted as well. She will be such a good friend, every whimper he makes she is at his side, well it finally caught up with her and she crashed out. She looks unconcious, don't you agree.

4. The SCOWL...At last we discovered that Brex did inherit something from me. He is full of patience. In fact Grandpa Wakley says we have a whole lot of it because we never use it!!! Brex will crinkle up his forehead and eyebrows until the corners are almost touching. He does this quite often like when: you take his bottle too soon, don't old him just right, don't hold his binki for him, if I am one second late changing his diaper, if he gets the hiccups ... you name it. In this picture you can see "THE SCOWL" and also those 12 LBS he has gained. He has achieved a double chi, triple thigh, and a muffin top over his diaper, we love it.

We really really love him and are very grateful to have this adorable little guy in our life.

Thank you - thank you - thank you

"WHY WORRY WHEN YOU CAN PRAY" I heard this great little quote at church today from a very special couple in our ward. As they were speaking I started thinking about how relevant it is in our lives and how prayer makes all the difference in the world. I realized that all the worries and prayers I have had over the past few months have been answered by so many wonderful people; so I just wanted to say thanks.

** Thanks to Grandma Janis for watching Brex everyday while we are at work. I couldn't leave him every morning if I didn't know someone very great was watching him.

** Thanks to Grandpa Kelly for the endless hours of snuggling, Brex is getting pretty spoiled.

** Thanks to Grandma Sandy for coming and babysitting and especially for all the great blankets and close that he puts to good use.

** Thanks to Grandpa Andrea for making the road trip to come have sleepovers and making Brex the greatest little crib blanket ever. Oh and did we mention the meals;)

** Thanks to Sissy N for being the best Aunt. You are the rock! Even though you pinch Brex and make him cry I still think you are the greatest. Pretty soon i will be needing a haircut!!

** Thanks to Big M. I knew you would be an incredible dad - well with the exception of those middle of the night feedings - Thanks for making Brex and I so happy.

** Thanks to Aunt Mikki for being so excited for Brex's arrival you always make us feel very loved.

** Thanks to Ad for the good advice, great talks, honesty, and most importantly the good laughs that we always have.

** Thanks to Bo and Shanell for moving here and giving me a place to do clinical so that I get to see my cute little baby during lunch.

** Thanks to everyone who brought food, gifts, and visited. He is one lucky little boy to have so many people who welcomed him here.

** Thanks to all the women in our ward - we absolutely have the most awesome ward around.

** Thanks to Scott and Ashley for being such an important part of lives in so many ways.

** Thanks to all my friends new and old at IMM clinic. I love working with you, I love talking to you, and we are grateful for the great shower gifts you all brought for Brex.

** Thanks to Kallie for the millions of cell phone minutes we have used talking about how great it is to be a mommy and the countless other subjects that come up.

** Thanks to Chalyce for supporting me in the fact that pregnancy is not a walk in the park:)

** Thanks to Sheralynn for the great secret tip about you know what - I won't post the details here.

** Thanks to Kell for being a good example of having a positive attitude and for working hard for the things that are important.

It is so great to have the gospel in our lives knowing that sometimes we can be an answer to someone elses prayers and the rest of the time Heavenly Father sends you to be the answer to our prayers.