The Family Stroman

Seeing Santa

2012-02-09T13:28:00.000-08:00

I know...Christmas posts still? Actually...pre-Chrismtas posts still? Well...these are memories I want to remember. And since I don't have the drive to go do the gazillion things I should be doing, I'm going to take a break and blog about two month old pictures!

River Heights has this Christmas Tree Lighting tradition, and each year we gather outside in below freezing temperatures to sing a couple of off-key Christmas songs, turn on the lights on the Christmas Tree, and visit with Santa. It's one of those things that's always a bit crazy, and kids always end up crying because they're freezing cold, but we have to do it because who doesn't want to see Santa? And plus, it happens right across the street from us. One of the perks of living across from a freaking awesome park!

This year, I had to do it with three kids, and no hubby. Sam was off teaching, so I bundled up the three kids, threw them in the stroller with a ton of blankets, and traveled across the street. Luckily, my friend was there with her three kids and no hubby, so we could chill together. AND one of my fabulous young woman kept track of one of my kids the whole time, so it went over pretty well.

Well...it started out pretty well.

We commenced to sing our songs, watch the tree light up, and headed over to wait in line for Santa. Savy was glad her friend Lydia was there to keep her entertained. These two can be serious goofballs when they're together. They're also lucky enough to be in nursery AND preschool together. (Their poor teacher!)

Savana was actually excited to sit on Santa's lap this year, no tears and no hesitation. She knew exactly what she was going to ask him for Christmas...a dollhouse for her Barbies. Santa was a good listener, because that's exactly what he brought.

Zoey thought Santa was totally awesome (can't you tell by her facial expression), and she whispered in his ear that all she wanted for Christmas was world peace....

and her mom to get spoiled.

And this kid? Well...he refused to keep his gloves on. Consequently, he slipped and fell in the snow, catching himself with his bare hands, and began screaming because his hands were cold. (Yeah, that's why mom told you to keep your gloves on!)

He then had no desire to see Santa, eat donuts, or drink the scalding-hot hot chocolate. He just wanted to get his hands warm, which was impossible to do outside, so I loaded up the kids again, bundled them up, and hurried across the park to our nice warm home

(spilling hot chocolate all over our stroller and listening to both Zoey and Dexter protest against the frigid cold weather at the top of their lungs).

And this...is the angel of a young woman who helped me stay partially sane that evening. My kids absolutely adore her, and I completely admire her for her patience and kindness. Without her, I may have ditched out even earlier.

Although it was a slightly chaotic evening, we got one thing checked off our

list of Christmas to-dos. And all for free!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-26T14:48:00.000-08:00

We debated about what to do for Christmas. Should we stay home and enjoy a nice quiet Christmas with our family, or should we pack up the car and enjoy a crazy Christmas with our extended family? Well, Christmas is supposed to be crazy, right? So we loaded up the cars and headed down south.

Festivities started off out in Tooele Thursday night for our annual Park Family Christmas bowling party at the army depot. There is always the best turnout at these things, and I see cousins I haven't seen in years. We gorged ourselves on pizza and yummy food and enjoyed some great bowling. I'm pretty sure I beat everyone in my family...again! Although I had to leave Sammy home to work, the kids and I had a great time.

Christmas Eve we headed to Sam's Aunt's house for the annual Whittaker Family Christmas Eve Extravaganza. We ate more food, enjoyed more good company, and watched the kids act out the Nativity story. So cute! Santa dropped off some toys for the kids (stuffed animals for Zoey and Savy, and a soccer ball for Dex) and then we headed to my parent's house to set out cookies and stockings for Santa...and then it was off to bed!

Christmas morning finally rolled around, (I had to wake the kids up after getting woken up by a text from my super excited 22 year-old sister), and we were ready to check out the goods Santa left behind!

Traditional family picture on the stairs. Oh, I love my kiddos in Christmas jammies! And it was so fun to have matching jammies this year! And I must say, Santa totally scored this year. He did a fantastic job at gift-giving!

Dex got spoiled with a geotrax train, big boy underwear,

and a marble set to share with his older sister.

Savy was lucky enough to get a dollhouse for her barbies.

(I love this picture of her quietly taking in her present!)

Sam and I did pretty well at gift-giving this year, too. Both kids received a bike from us. A red balance bike for Dex (with a bike helmet too small for his giant head), and a pink princess bike complete with a bell and a carseat for her dollies (or baby Zoey!) to sit in for Savy.

Santa brought me a new comforter for my bed, a gift certificate to treat myself to delicious cupcakes, and a water softener to soothe my dry skin!

Sammy was a good boy and got a beard trimmer (yoo-hoo!)

and equally exciting gloves and ice scraper!

(oh, and an iPad for his birthday)

My cute mother was excited to show off her new washer and dryer

(and check out those new jeans she's pulling out!)

Brynn showing off her goods (I can't remember what the DVD's are she got...something nerdy like Civil War Showdown) and her super warm snow boots.

Mal and her adorable new haircut proudly showing off her new laptop backpack, her warm, fuzzy boots, and her challenging 100 piece Fancy Nancy puzzle.

My dad taking full advantage of the super comfy recliner Santa left behind.

(Funny thing: he sat down on the chair to watch us enjoy our Santa gifts, and after sitting on it for like 10 minutes, he finally noticed it wasn't the old-rickety glider and it was in fact an awesome recliner!)

And lastly, Zoey Lou enjoying (kind of) the bouncer Santa left behind for her.

We opened more presents, rushed off to church (it was quite nice to attend church on Christmas morning), and then (almost) all my sisters came over with their families to enjoy my mom's fattening Christmas breakfast. We opened more presents, played games, watched some movies, and thoroughly enjoyed our presents and our Christmas day.

The next day, we headed over to Sam's parent's house for a delicious Christmas dinner, and more presents for the kids!

(I love this face! So excited to finally have a baby carrier...she won't have to use a purse anymore!)

All in all...I think it was the best Christmas we've had so far! Thank you for all who made it so special!

Christmas Dance Review 2011

2012-01-26T14:07:00.000-08:00

One of the things I was most excited about having Savy participate in is DANCE. (I wish I could dance...and dance well.) She's always grooving to the music and shaking her boot-ay in the cutest ways, and she absolutely LOVES to dance (almost as much as she likes playing princesses with her daddy)! Savy's costume arrived just before her Christmas Dance Review, so she was super excited to don her sparkly white outfit, throw a little blush and lipstick on, and add sparkles to her hair.

And like the biased parents we were, Sam and I thought she was the best dancer out there. Hands down! Watch out SYTYCD 2025. This little dancing diva may just be ready to blow you away! (And I do have video of her dancing...I just don't want to figure out how to post it) Wait...I just did! Haha...here she is dancing to Suzy Snowflake!

Miss Savana Paige...we are so proud of you!

And while we were watching Savana dance, a cute little old lady came up to Zoey and handed her a dollar bill! She said she always keeps a nice crisp dollar bill ready to hand out to darling little babies. I want to be like her when I grow up. Thanks cute old lady!

Halloween...almost a month late.

2011-11-22T20:11:00.001-08:00

The weather was incredible for Halloween this year, and we certainly enjoyed taking advantage of the warmth. No costumes hiding under winter coats this year! We enjoyed a delicious bowl of homemade chili and cornbread, a night of trick-or-treating with the neighborhood, and snuggling up with our Halloween candy to watch scary (not really) movies.

Zoey was a little stinker. Fit her personality beautifully.

The princess, her frog, the skunk, and the lame mom.

Gearing up for the trick-or-treating.

Savy gave up after only a couple "trunks" (I think she was too shy to say trick-or-treat), so she handed out candy with Sam while Zoey, Dex and I went around and collected the goods.

Zoey Lou didn't last long.

One scary little princess.

And enjoying the goods.

Can't wait for Halloween to come again next year. Kids make Holiday Season ten times better!

Baby Z's Blessings

2011-10-12T20:23:00.001-07:00

We had the excuse to round everyone up this last weekend to bless this beautiful little girl. Because of many reasons, we ended up blessing her at my parent's house, which made for a much more intimate affair. And this handsome man....

...gave her an absolutely beautiful blessing. With many words of wisdom. Things I still strive for in my life. Confidence in herself and the knowledge that she's beautiful (no matter what anyone else says), patience for her parents, strength to endure, a strong and faithful testimony, and a thirst for knowledge, both of things temporal and spiritual. It was beautiful, the spirit was strong, and Zoey was an angel.

AND we were also lucky enough to have Tiona come join us for the weekend. And might I say, "What a fabulous group of girls!" I admire each and everyone of my sisters (and especially my mom) for their strengths (and their weaknesses) and count myself incredibly lucky to have 6 built-in best friends. And so blessed to have another generation of girls to spoil rotten!!

Oh...and these crazy kids....?

...how could you not love them?

small miracles

2011-09-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

Today we had a breakthrough...a small miracle. (Which I attribute to my sweet sister and her sincere prayers to help Zoey Lou find peace somewhere other than my arms). I taught my first day of preschool, and Zoey was an angel. She spent most of the time hanging out in her carrier, but did settle down into her swing towards the end. I think we may be able to do this preschool thing. I was so worried about how things would go with her, because I get so uptight and anxious when I can't calm her down, and I didn't want that to affect our preschool experience. But she hardly interrupted our morning at preschool...Hallelujah!! And another small miracle...my class of 4 year-olds are also angels. I'm sure this angelic feeling will not always be there during our preschool time, but I think the Lord knew I needed a wonderful first day, or I would throw the towel in right off the bat. Thank you Zoey, thank you preschoolers, and thank you to my sweet little sister who prayed for these small miracles!!

My Sweet Ladybug

2011-08-31T19:14:00.001-07:00

Dear Zoey Lou,

Why can't you be more like this......

and less like this...

...? I could sure get a lot more done.

I love you immensely, but I can't go through life with you constantly in my arms. At least you're starting to give me some sweet little smiles. And we are getting some quality bonding time. My arms are just getting a bit sore, and my children/house/husband/calling/preschool are all getting a bit neglected. So cheer up, little ladybug! Life here isn't that bad...

Love,

Mom

Baby Z

2011-07-22T15:14:00.001-07:00

Zoey Lou Stroman

July 19, 2011

6:42 AM

6 lbs 5 oz

19 inches

I waited and waited and waited for her, and BAM!! She came into this world fast and furious! This sweet little girl certainly knows how to make an entrance! I woke up at 3:45 in the morning with contractions, woke Sam up at 4:45 to start timing contractions, and called for babysitter at 5:30 while my mom drove up here. I wobbled to the car, and held on for the most painful 5 minute ride of my life as Sam swerved to hit every single bump in the road on the way to the hospital. I wobbled to the elevator (pausing every minute as contractions overtook my body), checked in to the hospital at 5:50 AM, realized Sam had forgotten our bag and camera at home (thanks to Andy for running those things to us!), changed into my gown, tried to pee in a cup (the one time I need to pee is the one time I can't), switched rooms, and finally laid down on the bed. The nurse asked the routine questions while I gritted my teeth through each contraction, and then she settled down to check me...9+ cm! "You're going to light a fire under us today." Ahhh!!! A mad rush of activity ensued as bed was taken apart, equipment was brought in, Dr. Horsley was called, and the room was prepped for delivery. I was in complete shock! Dr. Horsley came in, broke my water, propped my feet up, and told me to push. I was STILL in shock...so I pretended to push. The nurses quickly reminded me how I should push, and then told me to push hard! I pushed through one contraction while Dr. Horsley turned baby around (she was sitting face up)...OUCH!! Then pushed and hollered like my life depended on it through the next contraction, and out popped our baby girl at 6:42 AM!!

Our BABY GIRL!!! Sam was emotional, I was still in a state of shock, and our baby girl was crying the sweetest little squawk/squeal I ever heard. The most INCREDIBLE experience we have ever been through.

We are so glad she is finally here!!!

Anxiously Waiting

2011-07-15T15:33:00.001-07:00

I feel as though I'm about ready to pop! Every evening as I lay down to sleep I think...maybe tonight will be the night. And every morning when I wake up I think...maybe today will be the day. But no baby yet. There has been progress made, and I keep willing my body to let baby come into this world, but baby must be waiting on something. Sammy picked July 17th as the day for baby to enter this world, so maybe baby's holding on for that date. Or maybe I'll just be stuck prego until July 31st. Either way, I've got to get my mind off of it, because it makes me slightly more depressed each day I anticipate baby's arrival with no baby to be seen. Honestly, I have nothing to complain about with the end of this pregnancy. I feel fantastic, am sleeping wonderfully, can move fairly easily, no gross redness on my face, and only have experienced a few days of swelling feet. Sam keeps telling me to slow down, but it's hard to when I feel so good...and I need some way to keep me distracted! Hopefully I will soon have some exciting pictures of baby number 3 to show, but until then, call me up and help me keep my mind distracted!!

Stroman Update

2011-06-17T14:34:00.000-07:00

Alright, Celeste (and the rest of the world who cares to read my blog...even though I'm such a slacker!), here's an update. I have been slacking in many areas of my life, and as I'm stressing out because baby will be here in 6 weeks or less, I thought I might as well try to catch up in some area of my life. And what better way to start than my blog?

Life has gone by way too fast in the last few months, and although I'm looking forward to getting this squirmy, little baby out of my body, I am also willing time to sloooow down because I'm not sure I can handle three kids. I don't know if it's the fact that baby's gender is a surprise, but I'm having a hard time finding motivation to get things ready for this baby. Our list of things to get done is forever long, and I'm not sure where to start--sell car, buy car, rearrange rooms, get rooms ready, get baby stuff ready, buy double stroller, and prepare myself for a natural birth. What? Did I just say natural birth? Yep, we have decided to forego medication this time around and have this baby the natural way. (Maybe that's why I'm slightly hesitant about getting baby here.) And maybe that's why I'm dragging my feet on getting anything done...I haven't prepared myself mentally for the birth of our third child. But enough about me and my worries and stresses. Take a peek at my adorable family and see what we've been up to lately!

We celebrated Easter, and along with that, we discovered Dexter's passion for sports. He loves any type of ball, squeals anytime he gets to watch someone play a sport, and asks continuously to watch basketball on TV. Sammy is quite thrilled about this.

Savana performed in her first dance recital, and totally rocked! She cried her eyes out during rehearsal and refused to dance with her class, but warmed up (with a little bit of bribery) for her afternoon performance.

Savana also graduated from preschool. (She had a freaking awesome teacher :) who taught her so many things!!) And we both survived our first year of preschool together.

We've enjoyed the warm weather that's finally started to show up and have spent many hours walking, playing at the park, and attempting to hike with two young kids and a prego lady.

Savy started playing T-ball this month, and it's pretty hilarious to watch her play. Dexter tries to sneak out onto the field anytime I turn my head and Savana is rarely paying attention to what's going on--but it's fun to watch her!

I've really enjoyed watching this little boy's personality pop out--and he's pretty funny! Always pulling cheeses, funny faces, making funny noises, or doing silly things to make us all giggle. I sure love him.

And lastly...Savy celebrated her 4th birthday--Princess Style!! She got spoiled rotten, and is already planning her 5th birthday party.

There. A few things to tide you over until the next time you hear from us...which will most likely be after baby 3 comes into our lives. So...ENJOY!!

We Survived Winter

2011-03-07T12:39:00.000-08:00

Wow. Where have I been? I can't believe it's been since December I last showed the world how adorable my chitlins are. Christmas has come and gone, New Year's parties have been celebrated, Valentine's Day has even disappeared, and now hopes of spring are in the air (even with 6 inches of snow still hanging on in my yard)! Well, I'll tell you where I've been! On my couch!! After recovering from my first trimester of nauseous pregnancy, I got hit with a cold that left me scrambling for any soft surface where I could snuggle under a warm blankie and doze off the minute my children were softly nestled in their beds. I'm still battling the cold a month later, and dreaming of the day I'll be able to breathe clearly through my nose and laugh without hacking up a lung. I know you've been waiting months for shots of my kids, so here's a few photos of my cuties playing in the snow.

After one failed attempt at making it up to our family cabin this winter, and being snowed out, we finally made it up there at the end of January. We spent a great weekend with our family, and I came to realize how much of a snow bunny little Savana is. She spent two hours during the morning sledding and playing in the snow, and then went back out for another two hours of sledding and building a beautiful snowman. She even zipped down the hill on her very own sled and survived to tell the tale. Dexter loved tasting the snow, and even enjoyed sledding down the hill....until I gave him a face full of snow while trying to control our sled. Then he decided he was done with the sled, the snow, and his mommy!

I can't believe winter is almost gone, and I'm anxiously waiting the days of bike rides, walks to the park, and playing in our yard soaking up the rays. Hopefully it will be here soon!!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

2010-12-21T08:22:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas time and all the lights, treats, music, presents, and excitement that comes along with it. Kids only make it better. Every morning when little Dex wakes up he walks over to our Christmas tree and points to it and grunts, which means, "Mom, turn on the lights!" Then he exclaims, "pity," which means "pretty," the same thing he squeals and exclaims when he sees Christmas lights while driving around at night.

Savy has enjoyed having her own Christmas tree in her room and loves to help me wrap presents by applying the crooked tape and the huge, unmatching bows. She's asked Santa for a handful of things (ipod phone, house, and barbies), but hasn't really focused on any one present, so it will be exciting to see what Santa chooses to bring her for Christmas. At one point she even asked Santa for a sweater! And Santa looked at her and said..."A sweater? What about toys?" Savy decided toys would be good, too, so Santa said he'd choose a special toy for her.

I love the magical feel of Christmas and have enjoyed watching all the corny Christmas cartoon classics with my chitlins while snuggling up on our warm couch next to our Christmas tree. Only four more days until the magic explodes! Merry Christmas!!

Halloween

2010-11-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

Halloween has come and gone. And November is almost halfway over! We have been blessed with a fabulous fall, and I am not looking forward to the cold weather. I do enjoy the snow, just not driving in it and certainly not being freezing cold out in it. But here's some pics from our Halloween weekend. I got to dress up five different times, and I never realized how awful I look with all that green makeup on! So forgive me for looking so sickly, I was just going all out on my witch costume. We got to party at preschool, at Sambo's work, and at my family's house. And Brynn was by far the best hostess out there. If you ever want/need someone to decorate your house for Halloween, she is the girl to do it. It looked spooky, creepy, wicked, and fun.

Here's the sexy little fam...all grumpy after a two hour drive! And if you don't know who Sam is, you should! (hide your kids, hide your wife)

My cute chitlins with their creepy mom.

Getting ready for trick-or-treating. We only filled those buckets 1/4 full, and we still have way too much Halloween candy at our house!!

Enjoying the goods.

I can't get enough of these two kids. They are so stinking cute! And Ginger was the cutest waddling around in her little peacock outfit.

Happy Halloween!!

Decorating Pumpkins

2010-10-29T11:21:00.000-07:00

Decorating pumpkins is a must at Halloween. Since I don't trust my kids with a carving knife, they got to decorate their pumpkins with a paint brush instead!! (and that was even a bit risky) Dexter was all too thrilled to get to use a paintbrush like his big sister, and was quite the pro. He'd dab his brush in the paint so carefully and then spread it all over his pumpkin.

Savy used a smorgasbord of colors. Every color of the rainbow.

Sambo is disgusted by the inside of a pumpkin. He hates weird textures, and pumpkin guts are one of the weirdest textures out there. I dug his pumpkin out first, and then convinced him to stick his own hand in there. Doesn't he look thrilled?

And of course....messy hands. A freshly painted pumpkin is too much temptation for little fingers.

And since the rain/snow washed away all the paint on their pumpkins when we placed them on our porch, we ended up sticking Mr. Potato Head pieces in them. Super cute!!

I love this one...her tongue sticks out in concentration just like her daddy.

And my sexy hubby. He was Dexter's coach, making sure that paintbrush didn't travel much further than the pumpkin.

I love Halloween!! Pumpkins, cookies, parties, and costumes. Love it, love it, love it!!

The Most Happiest Place On Earth

2010-09-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

We did it. We braved the crowds, the ten-hour car ride with two small children, the horrifically over-priced food, and we conquered Disneyland over a five-day spread. You might think 5 days is a little much to spend at one place, but for me, it was absolutely perfect. We took the kids home in the afternoon for a much needed nap (although most of the time Sam napped while I tried to convince the two kids they were the ones who needed a nap), we hit the things we loved more than once, and we relaxed and enjoyed the magic of Disneyland!! I certainly wore my kids out, and I probably wore my husband out trying to take advantage of every moment, but it was a perfect vacation for me.

There's a gazillion pictures to document our time, and yet these few don't do it justice. Watching Dexter shake his booty to the music playing during the parade, seeing Savy hide under her blanket while riding Pirates, and then asking to go on it again and again, eating a candy apple....the BEST candy apple...while watching the most incredible fireworks show, and making memories with the Stroman family.

So excited to finally be inside the gates. And no, tears of joy were not shed upon entering. Happy tears came later.

Here is where the magic of Disneyland got to me. Watching my daughter's face as she interacted with her idols. And then later while watching the fireworks show. Really, how can anything compare?

And Princess Tiana was hands-down the most wonderful princess there! Savy wanted to tell her story after story after story, and Princess Tiana just smiled and talked to Savana like she was the only girl that mattered to her!!

Savy had to get new princess gear: a dress, a purse, and gloves.

Um....this is the only face they're able to pull when told to be funny. Love it.

We did manage to take an hour or so away from Disneyland and attend Medieval Times. I highly recommend it to all who do not have young kids. (Kids are just a bit too much to handle...even if they're as sweet as ours!!)

Savy did get crowned the Queen of Love and Beauty. She takes after her mother.

We also slipped away to the beach, were my husband huddled under a towel and complained it was too cold to be at a beach!! It was a bit chilly, we had to visit the beach. At least once. And check out Dexter's face. He got rolled over by the ocean. Was next to Sam one minute, and the next minute he was tumbling up the beach being pushed around by the waves. Poor kid.

Cali-Forn-I-A!!!

Just about the cutest girls ever. Waiting to see the princesses.

Mickey Mouse!! Savy was hesitant at first when approaching large Disney characters, Dexter never got the hang of it, but by the end of our stay, Savy threw herself into any characters arms she could find.

Savy and her playmates for life.

See how big a fan Dex is of Minnie? He actually just fell right before the picture. It's tough learning how to walk in Disneyland.

This is how he really felt the whole time. He's going to hate me in his later years for this picture!!

Pluto. Poor Pluto. Nobody's favorite character. But he is a Disney character, and we couldn't pass up our chance to take a picture with him.

And this picture sums it all up. Dex a bit unsure of everything we were doing, Savy and I loving every second of it, and Sam left to document it all. Thank you, Stromans, for a fantastic Disneyland vacation!!!

Sand Babies

2010-09-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

We visited California a few weeks ago with Sambo's family. It was so much fun! We spent five days at Disneyland and California Adventure, one afternoon at the beach, and wore ourselves out watching our kids have a fantastic time! Here's just a few snapshots from the beach. More will come later. But these two pics make me giggle. Such stinkin cute kids...even when they are all covered with sand!!!

Preschool

2010-09-07T13:24:00.001-07:00

It was Savy's first day of preschool (and mine, too)!! And we both survived!! Huzzah!!

Dance at LaShar's

2010-09-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

Dance...one of the wonderful things I get to watch my little girl do! She was old enough to take dance this year, and she absolutely loved it! Her dance studio had a little dance recital at the end of the summer, and I snapped a few pictures of her performing. However, I am becoming more and more scatterbrained (probably because I have more and more responsibility piled on me), and had just placed her dance outfit in the washer 10 minutes before we had to go! So I quickly scrambled around the house and threw together her fabulous ensemble...complete with hot pink bummies and her cute pink tutu from when she was one! It's okay...she looks darling in anything she wears!!

Savy loved performing...and especially loved watching herself in the mirror!

She even loved performing so much, she joined in the older girls performance! When it came time for the 4 and 5 year olds to do their dances, Savy simply grabbed the props right along with them and attempted to copycat what her teacher and the other girls were doing. It was pretty hilarious!

Ahhhh...such a sweet little ballerina!

She even has little tap shoes!!

Savy loves to move and groove to the music. But her little brother is soon going to show her up...because no one can move and groove quite like little Dexter!! He was shaking his booty right along with the little girls!

Summer Fun

2010-08-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

Is August really ending? Is summer almost over? Crazy. Absolutely crazy. Here are a few of our summer moments captured (via iphone...takes pretty good pics). Hooray for swings, snow cones, swimming pools, McDonald's, and simply hanging out on the sweet green grass!

2010-07-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

I am awed at how fast time flies. My baby boy turned 1 today. Wow. Has it really been a year since the weekend at the cabin when I woke up with contractions? I was scared to bring him into the world. One child was a huge adjustment, but I wasn't quite ready to have two children. This year has been hard. It's been challenging. But with this little guy around who is ready and willing to melt my heart with his irresistible smiles at any given moment, it's certainly been worth it. The first year is full of changes. I don't think Dexter has stayed the same from one day to the next. Always learning/doing something new. The minute he figured out how to crawl, his learning spiked and he took off: climbing stairs, standing, making bigger messes, babbling like crazy, waving bye-bye, and he has this weird fascination with anything above him. He likes to point to lights and babble on and on and on about who knows what. (Sam thinks he's going to be an electrician). It's weird to think he's really 1. He's really not my baby anymore. The poor little guy had an awful night puking, and so he spent the day snuggled up to his mommy (which I thoroughly loved)! We did manage to make it out of the house for a little B-day party with his cousin Ginger. It was totally low key. And I loved it. We celebrated with my family last weekend, and with Sammy's family this weekend. It was great. It was perfect. And even if Dexter's tummy wasn't feeling great...he still managed to eat one bite of ice cream and open up some fabulous presents. Happy B-day, Dexter!!

2010-07-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

Hi. I'm Dexter. I know my face is a little bit dirty, but I'm a boy. I don't have time to stop and let my mom clean my face. I'm almost 1, and I finally have a tooth poking through. Yes, my teeth have been a little bit slow coming, and it has been a bit troublesome to mash up all my yummy food without any teeth, but I am about ready to have a non-toothless grin. I've been a bit more cranky than usual...but come on! It's painful cutting teeth. My gums get all swollen and red and simply hurt!! But it hasn't slowed me down. I still manage to crawl faster than my mom can walk after me, and I'm really good about dumping EVERYTHING on to the floor. I've decided I'm too big for toys, they're only good for dumping out of their containers, and then I must move on to find the next thing I can make a mess out of. Oh...and I love to eat rocks, dirt, wood chips, and grass. Did I mention I was a boy? Yeah...my mom keeps trying to tell me they're gross and kaka...but they're actually quite tasty!! I've tried to share some with her, but she doesn't appreciate having rocks shoved in her face. Oh, well. It's her loss. Well, I'm off to take a rest...it's pretty exhausting being this cute...but I thought I'd let the world get a glimpse of me. Adios.

RAGNARdly, dude!!

2010-06-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

Sam and I got roped into joining the Campsaver.com family and friends Ragnar Relay team. Sam has not run...ever...in his life and I haven't run since...before Savy was born. It was a good motivator to get running, get active, get healthy...and the reward was fantabulous!! 2 days of running, through some of the prettiest landscapes in Utah, surrounded by fantastic weather, with the most supportive, funny, good-natured people around. I started us off in Logan, and 188 miles later, I crossed the finish line in Park City with the rest of our crew. (I only ran 21 of those 188 miles!!). Aside from the lack of sleep, the aching bodies, and the stench that comes from running hard with no showers...it was a great experience. And even with those things, I'm ready to do it again.

Don't I look great? I just started running...hence the smile on my face! The grimaces came later (and when there wasn't a camera around to document them).

Sambo was so excited to get started on his part of the race, he forgot to pin on his bib. But Zak let him borrow his.

Sammy...pulled a funny face or a funny move anytime I pulled out the camera to document. Doesn't he look like he's working hard?

I'm done...

...and so is Sam. Now the only thing we had left to do...was pig out on Dairy Keen!!! (And drag our achy bodies across the finish line). It was a great way to spend 30 hours!!

Turning 3

2010-06-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

Savy has been anticipating her birthday for months....probably since February. Specifically a Sleeping Beauty birthday with a Sleeping Beauty cake. And the present of choice is a pink scooter with princesses on it and a pink scooter for her baby sister (who she frequently talks about and tells me still lives in heaven...a tid bit odd (creepy) since there is no chance of a baby sister...or any baby...coming for quite a long time! maybe she knows something we don't...). Having a birthday in June we had planned on having the whole family come up and celebrate in the beautiful summer weather by having a barbecue and playing at the park. Instead, we crammed the whole family into our teeny-tiny house, had a barbecue (still), and simply froze our boot-ays off at the park shooting candy out of a candy cannon because the weather doesn't know how to cooperate!!

Sidenote: I decorated the front room with pink crepe paper and pink balloons the night before. When Savy woke up and groggily wandered into our bedroom, she said in a super grumpy/worried voice..."what did you do in there?" And Dexter just smiled and giggled and talked to the balloons and crepe paper. Different reactions...both super cute.

Savy started out as Sleeping Beauty, then became Cinderella, and ended with plain old Savana because with all the excitement of the day, she forgot she was potty trained and went through FIVE outfits!!!

Savy got absolutely spoiled and was granted her wish of a pink scooter with princesses on it, along with all things princess...shoes, accessories, figurines, a crown, a nightgown, and some non-princess outdoor toys and legoes. My mom made the comment these are the kind of parties Disney loves...their name was everywhere!!

Savana has also been practicing wrapping presents up for her in washcloths, towels, or blankies, singing to herself, and then blowing out the "candles," so she was a pro when it came time for her Sleeping Beauty cake.

Savy's playing with a few of the presents she received that day...legoes, princess accessories, and her Sleeping Beauty nightgown and crown all the way from Disneyland!!

Savy Paige...you are an absolute treat and a wonderful girl! Thank you for your sweet, sensitive, yet independent, personality!

My Name is Savy...and I am 3!!!

2010-06-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

My baby girl turned 3. And we had a blast celebrating her birthday. But I want to continue the celebration of her...before I post birthday pictures. Because sometime during everyday, this little angel drives me absolutely bonkers...but most times during everyday...she leaves me shaking my head in awe at her beauty, her personality, and her crazy, creative, silliness. She is one little babe I'm glad decided to come into our family!!

So I invite you to join in the celebration of this little wonder...check her out in all her glory!!!

I had to throw this last one in. While we were getting ready for church one morning, Savy decided her baby needed a bed. So she found the best place for her baby to rest...the TOILET!!! Love it!!!

The Real Easter

2010-05-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

Easter was ages ago. I know. And I already have a posting about Easter. But I realized I didn't have any pictures from Easter morning. That was because we'd forgotten our camera. So thanks to my dad for sending me multiple emails of these cute kids...here's my favorite pics from that morning.

What's not to love about sibling love? They love each other one minute, then are pulling on sister's hair or ripping toys out of brother hands the next, and then they're snuggling together in brother's crib.

And this is what Dexter does with ANYTHING in a basket, box, bucket, etc....just dumps it everywhere! I think he spent all conference dumping Easter baskets out...but at least it kept him entertained!

And while we were on our Easter egg hunt...Dexter became mysteriously quiet. He wasn't making a peep...because he found a Peep!!

Pure excitement. This is the face she pulled everytime she found an egg. It made Easter egg hunting so much better!!

The Bike Master

2010-05-17T15:42:00.000-07:00

This girl is pretty incredible on her bike. My sister gave it to Savy a month or so back. The day we brought it home, she hopped on it and took off without the slightest bit of hesitation. And once we got her stunning pink princess helmet (sorry in advance, Dexter...you'll probably be sporting the same helmet in a few years), there was no place Savy couldn't go on her bike: the park we visit so frequently, her friends' houses, the back patio, and around and around our car. I've contemplated putting up an obstacle course for her, because she zooms around the strollers, shoes, skateboard, and other odds and ends to park her bike in the garage. I bet she could do it. And everytime I see her pedaling towards me, I think...when did my little baby get so grown up? Good thing I've got this chubster to baby for the next little bit. Wait...he's no longer a baby either. So sad how fast these little things grow...

Easter

2010-05-03T16:17:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know Easter was a few weeks ago, but these kids are too adorable to keep to myself! We had a great Easter weekend down with both families and were able to gorge ourselves on delicious food, sweet candy, and the words of our prophets and apostles. Wasn't it great having conference weekend on the same weekend as Easter? I honestly am a little excited to get my conference Ensign so I can study the talks again. Sometimes it seems as though they're speaking directly to me and answering the questions I've been struggling with. I love it!

...and I love these two!!

So devilishly handsome. And yes...those are white pants. He's worn them three times...and they're still white! We'll see what happens when he actually decides to start crawling.

What a great relationship. Dexter idolizes Savana and everything she does...he can't keep his eyes off of her and has an instant grin the minute she shows any interest in him. And Savy loves to hug, help, feed, maul, smother, and annoy her little brother. I love watching this relationship grow.

And this little girl is a constant entertainer. She had a blast searching for eggs and she'd let out a little squeal EVERYtime she found one!

And this is what she does best...hams it up for all around her!

Baby Animal Days

2010-05-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

With the weather turning kind of warm (this was a few weeks ago before winter visited us again), we went to visit the American West Heritage Farm and see all the baby animals. We saw baby bears, baby cows, baby sheepies, baby goats, baby chicks, and baby ponies. Savy jumped in a bounce house and we all waited in an insanely long line to drive the choo-choo train in a circle. Eventhough Savy forgot she was potty trained (she was just too enthralled in what was going on around her to remember!), and Dexter was exhausted, we had a great time. And we ran into a few people we haven't seen in YEARS....so we were glad we went!

And what is an outdoor event without cotton candy? Savy was gracious enough to share her cotton candy with her mom and dad.

Savy started to get grumpy, so I had to convince her to be happy.

How did we get so lucky to have such a patient little boy? He sat contently in his stroller for hours. I love him.

Petting one of the baby cows. Savy was a bit hesitant at first, especially when the made noises at her, but she got close enough to pet a few.

My handsome boy, again.

And my beautiful little girl. She posed beautifully for us on this old tractor. It's great having kids so we have an excuse to go do those things we would like to do (like pet baby animals and ride choo-choo trains), but feel too old to do! Kids definitely make me act and feel younger!

April Fool's Snow

2010-04-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

Outside is beautiful blue sun-filled skies. And that's the way it should be in the middle of April. But the first day of April came with a vengeance...and more snow then we've seen in any single snowstorm ALL winter. So Savy and I threw on our snow gear for the last time (hopefully) this season and built us a sweet snowman. At least Savy got one last chance to gorge herself on snow and throw herself around on the ground making snow angels...

...until next winter...

My Baby Boy

2010-03-31T09:03:00.000-07:00

Not such a baby anymore. He's growing up. And with those huge, hazelish eyes, don't you just want to eat him up? Especially with his huge smiles and his little girly giggles...he's simply irresistible! He's rolling and twisting everywhere!! And even though Savy can be quite diligent in laying down a blanket for him, he's off of it in seconds. He eats everything, and has a taste for electronics and cords. He likes to get his groove on and will bounce or rock out the minute music is turned or his big sister begins singing "Happy Birthday." Dexter now knows how to get our attention, and will squeal or cry if he can't reach his toys. Still absolutely toothless. But his toothless grins are the best!!

My heart is wrapped around his little finger...which leaves me wondering....how many fingers can my heart be wrapped around?

Party like it's 1980!

2010-03-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

We all can agree that the 80's were an awful time for clothing. So why are some of the style's coming back? Shanda didn't have to travel too far in the mall to find clothes that would suite the 80's theme. Her family came up for the weekend, and we left the chitlins with a sitter so we could go dance the night away at a friend's 80's birthday party. We looked ridiculous. And we danced ridiculously...but we had a blast. (It's so much easier to be a nerd and dance like a dork when nobody knows you and when you look hilarious.)

Can you even recognize these studly men or their hot dates?

Aside from dressing up, we had a great time with the Bezzants. Savy would wake up and ask about "my Bezzants" and would scream and jump up and down when Carter or Brexten wandered upstairs. I miss being close to my family, but it's nice, because when we do see them, we get to see them for days straight instead of just a few hours. Thanks Bezzants for coming to play!!

2010-03-01T13:27:00.001-08:00

As I watch my children grow up, I'm constantly looking for the next milestone. And the littlest accomplishment can make me so happy and so proud. And so sad at the same time...because it means they're growing up. Not staying little like I'd want them to. This little guy just accomplished the feat of rolling over from his back to his tummy. And just like that...I have another mobile child. He no longer stays nicely on this blanket playing with his toys. Now he's off to finding bigger and better things far away from the comfort of his padded blankets. And since we've only got hardwood floor and tile on our main floor...he's going to end up with quite a few bonks on his head (cause even when I lay out multiple blankets to roll around on, he still finds his way off. every time)!

Savy's Music Tastes

2010-03-01T13:05:00.000-08:00

We like music at our house. At home and on the road. Since becoming a mom, my tastes have not altered. Savy listens to the music we listen to (with a few songs skipped over). One morning, she's walking around the house saying, "I can't sleep. I can't sleep. There is a ghost in my house." Sammy and I look at each other and think..."what is this girl talking about?" Then it hit me. Band of Horses. There is a Ghost in My House. A great song. And she'd picked it up. The thing is, this isn't one of the songs we listen to over and over. Just one we enjoy when it comes on. So if she's picking up the lyrics to this song, what other songs does she have in that head of hers? Well, these are the three she's asked for in the last week:

1. The Ghost song (There is a Ghost in My House by Band of Horses)

2. You and I by Angry Michaelson (actually Ingrid Michaelson)

and 3. Apeman (by the Format).

And she sings along to them. (which I find totally awesome). If you're unfamiliar with any of these songs, I suggest checking them out. If I was a better blogger, I might find the links for you. But I'm not. So I leave it up to you to go and hear the songs that have captured my 2 1/2 year old's heart. You won't be disappointed.

Decorator, Mommy, Teacher...She Does it All.

2010-02-27T15:21:00.000-08:00

There are some moments during my day where I wish I could follow Savy around with a video camera and catch her at her best (or worst) so all the world could see this sweet blessing in action. But I guess some snapshots will have to be suffice (inside joke). She is a whirlwind of entertainment.

After refusing to take a nap for me once again, she called me into her room to show me what she had done. When I asked what this was all about, she told me she was decorating. (I guess her idea of decorating is grabbing everything in the room and tossing it into the middle of the floor.) I'm curious to know where she gets her keen sense of interior design...because it's certainly not from me!!

At the age of 32 months, Savana has turned into quite the mother. She's constantly toting around a baby. And if she doesn't have a baby close by, she'll use her blanket, her sippie cup, the ranch dressing, anything within reach and swaddle it up like her baby. She's even got nursing her babies down. And she even tries to be modest while doing it! (if you look closely, you can see her baby's arm poking up from underneath the nursing apron!)

Besides making sure her babies are well fed, she makes sure they get plenty of rest. She's constantly asking me to wrap her babies up, telling me "Shh, be quiet, baby is sleeping", and asking me if I hear her baby crying because baby woke up.

Then there's the cleanliness issue. This is her "baby daddy" (she's really creative with her baby names..."baby", "dolly", or "baby daddy")...and she's making sure she is absolutely spotless.

And, eventhough she acts like a baby sometimes (she'll even lay on the blanket and roll over for me just like baby Dexter), she also proves to me how grownup she is. While doing her business, I caught her reading the scriptures. When I asked her what she's doing (because she always has the best explanations for what's going on), she proceeded to teach me a lesson out of the scriptures. Her lessons include many interesting things and interesting words, but she always ends by telling me to be a good girl for Heavenly Father.

Well, it seems as though we've taught her everything she needs to know...how to decorate, how to be a good mom, and how to be a good girl for Heavenly Father...what do we teach her during the next 16 years of her life?

What Do You Love About Preschool?

2010-02-22T08:29:00.000-08:00

Alright, mom's and future mommy's. I am thinking about doing a preschool in my home. And I want to know something.

What do you want out of a preschool?

Send your thoughts my way. And then I can begin the most fantabulous preschool out there!!!

My Sassy Little Princess

2010-02-17T07:50:00.000-08:00

Wow...how do you even keep up with this girl? She wants to be and do everything, from princesses to mommies, from puzzles to books, from hellion to angel. She imitates everything we do, and makes us constantly be better examples. She's already pushing me to be a better person, and I love her to death.

My Little Bubba

2010-02-17T07:43:00.000-08:00

Amazing how quickly my heart was wrapped around this little guy's finger. It must be those huge greenish-brownish eyes and sweet little smile he has plastered on his face all day long! He wakes up happy, goes to sleep happy, plays happy, but eats grumpy. (I can't seem to make milk fast enough to keep him happy!) He certainly keeps our house happy!!

winning a tutu

2010-02-10T14:25:00.000-08:00

Someday i'll have a moment to sit down and show everyone (a) my adorable children and how HUGE they're getting, and (b) the projects i've been working on that's been keeping me busy for the last few weeks. But for now, you'll have to settle for a picture of the most adorable tutu i'm trying to win. You can try to win it, too. (just don't try too hard). Simply click here.

Savana Into Everything

2010-01-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

What's this? A rare post by Señor Stroman? Yes, it is I—El Dorko! I need to post more, so I'll try to post more from my pea-sized brain in the future. How many times have I said that? Anyway, this post isn't about me, but about our dear Savana. I wanted to write down a couple experiences with this wonderful little girl so that they weren't forgotten.

Last Friday, Amber attended a class to make a large-format temple picture with frame and all. The class was from 7:00–9:00, so that meant I was to put the kids to bed and deal with Savana's bad bed habits (I do it pretty regularly). Before going to bed she is up and down, up and down about 5 times a night, on average. This night, however, I hadn't heard a peep from her in about 45 minutes. Could she have gone straight to sleep without getting up, pretending to need to go potty, or weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth? I looked down the hallway and noticed a light coming from under her door. Her nightstand lamp was on. Dang! So, I walked to her door and opened it to this scene: Her lamp was, indeed, turned on on the nightstand and the top drawer was open. Savvy stood next to her nightstand with her pajamas around her ankles, along with her pullups. In her left hand was an open tube of cortisone, and her right was covered with the stuff. Her butt was pink with paste as she looked up to me and stuttered quickly to explain herself, "I, I, I, need, uh, need the medicine so I don't get a rash." It was hilarious.

Today, I came home from work at the usual time to spend dinner with the family before Amber went to her workout class. We ate taco soup from Amber's soup swap and it was good. Amber left for her class as Savana, Dexter, and I laid on the kitchen floor laughing at each other. It was a good night. Anyway, duty called after dinner, so I headed to the bathroom before giving Savana a little cup of water and ice that she had asked me for. I did my business while I browsed on my iPhone, like all Stromans do (including Amber). Savvy interrupted me while I was finishing up to tell me that she was wet on the arms and stomach. I wondered how and why. She pointed me to the kitchen where I found a chair pulled up the fridge. An overflowing cup stood in the recess where the water dispenser is and water was trickling down the front of the fridge to join the large pool of water that now covered a large portion of the floor. In the middle of the pool was a soaking wet hand towel Savvy must have pulled off the stove to clean up the water. The disappointment was apparent in my voice as I told Savvy she had made a mess, and she burst into tears. My heart melted and we shared a good hug. We spent the next fifteen minutes soaking up the pool with towels.

Having Savana in our lives is a wonderful thing. We love you Savana.

2010...Really!?!

2010-01-06T20:11:00.000-08:00

To cap the fabulous week we've had playing with family, we took off to the cabin with Sam's family for New Year's Eve. And no offense to the fam...but we had the lamest New Year's Eve party ever. We had fun playing games and eating yummy treats and watching movies...but 12:01 rolled around and we didn't even shout hooray or drink any bubbly!! We looked at our watches, said "Well, it's 12:01...Happy New Year" and strolled off to bed!! I guess when you're old and have young kids, you can't party too hard!! But even though New Year's Eve was...mmm...uneventful...we had a great weekend. Cozy fire, more yummy food, sledding, good books, and a great time with family. I was sad to see it all end and come back home far away from almost everybody.

Savy and I are enjoying the cabin in the best way...sitting by a nice warm fire, surrounded by those who love you the most, enjoying some good literature!! Thanks, everyone, who made our eleven days simply wonderful!!

And Here's Christmas

2010-01-06T19:56:00.000-08:00

We ended up waking the kids up at 7:30, and then had to wait for my sister to get back, so we all gathered on my parents' bed and enjoyed Savy's first gift...Fancy Nancy's Splendiferous Christmas (every girl needs Fancy Nancy in their life) And these two chitlins in their matching jammies are the best gift I've ever gotten...I just want to squeeze them!! Once my sister got back, we gathered even more family (Celeste had her boys...so we had a full house...which makes for a crazy exciting Christmas morning), and trekked down the stairs to see the surprises Santa left for us!!

Dexter really didn't care what he got...but his toys were enjoyed by all the kids. (There is something about a toy making noises even a 7 year-old can't resist!)

Savy immediately wanted to paint on her easel and eat all her suckers...at least the one's Jack the dog left behind for her!

My sister, Shanda, is incredibly crafty and made this adorable apron and crayon-holder for church. Savy loves to help out in the kitchen, and now she can do so in style.

And Savy got spoiled even more by her Aunt Carrie. Not even 3, and she already has a pink 4-wheeler. Totally jealous.

Christmas was busy, and we ate a delicious breakfast at my parents' house and then headed up to the Stroman's again for dinner. It was simply wonderful being surrounded by family. That's the best part of Christmas. People who love you.

Christmas Eve

2010-01-06T14:25:00.001-08:00

I still cannot believe Christmas is already over. The anticipation is the best part...I've been looking forward to Savy's reaction for quite sometime. And although she didn't jump up and down and scream like crazy...she was still excited about Christmas and all it entails. And plus, Christmas was great because we got to be around family. And my little sis talked me into staying around family for an extra week...so I had almost two weeks of no responsibility (no cleaning, cooking, laundry, grocery shopping) and almost two weeks of fun with the fam (puzzles, junk food, movies, sledding, games, and Patrick Jane). But don't worry, during those eleven days, Savy had a fever, cold, threw up, and forgot how to sleep through the night. And without my trusty man there to assist...I lost a lot of sleep!!

Christmas Eve we gathered at the Stroman's to kick it off. One present each. Then we trekked it over to Carol's house for Christmas Eve Dinner, a visit from Santa, and a fun present game.

Savy's showing off her bathtime baby.

I'm trying to make Dexter's toy truck work. It was his first truck...with I'm sure many more to come over the years.

Savy was surprisingly content to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. She was a little bit intimidated at first, but she warmed up to them after they read The Night Before Christmas. I don't recall what she asked Santa for Christmas that night...but she has been hoping for a baby sister (I guess a baby brother simply isn't cool enough). Luckily, Santa didn't deliver on that account ...yet.

The present exchange was great...Savy helped open presents and dutifully put the trash in the garbage bag...and Sam made out with this sweet gift. Yep. He's sporting a Snuggie. And not just any Snuggie. A BYU Cougar snuggie!! Go Cougars!!! (I got The Pretty Pretty Princess Game)

And we ended up at the Park house where we opened our Christmas Jammies, ate cookies, and tucked the little ones in bed. We are ready for Santa to come!!

Christmas Trees in River Heights

2009-12-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

We love our new home, our new neighborhood, and our new community! A few weeks ago, River Heights had their annual tree lighting in the park right across the street. So we bundled ourselves up nicely, and walked across the street to join in with the singing and lighting of the tree. There's something magical about singing Christmas carols in the freezing cold and looking at the beautiful lights. Afterwards, we wandered over the the city building for some doughnuts, hot chocolate, and SANTA!!

Now, Savana saw Santa one Saturday at Walmart and screamed like crazy when I tried to put her on hit lap. She kept telling me later about how Santa was a bad guy...so I've spent the last few weeks convincing her that Santa is a nice guy. She still took a bit of convincing that night to sit on Santa's lap, but once on she couldn't stop cheesing for the camera!! And she also loves the candy that comes from sitting on his lap!

Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-21T14:45:00.001-08:00

We invited the other Stroman's over for some gingerbread house making. The girls enjoyed sticking their hands in every bowl of candy, then pouring the bowls of candy on the ground and watching all the little candy pieces roll under the furniture. Savy loved eating the frosting, and I could barely put it on before she would stick her little finger out and swipe off the frosting. (The next day, while I was showering, she even proceeded to take off the candy pieces, lick the frosting off of them and off of the house, and then try to put the candy pieces back on.) Sam and Andy enjoyed making the same jokes while building the houses, and we all enjoyed the gingerbread masterpieces after they were completed. It was a great night...and a great way to celebrate Christmas.

And here is our princess Beyonce. (She even has a ring on it). And right now, she is sitting in our front yard, slowly tipping towards the sidewalk. ( I think she had a bit too much eggnog!)

Snow

2009-12-08T11:18:00.000-08:00

Winter is here. Snow is on the ground. And every second Savy gets, she runs right into the snow...and then proceeds to eat the snow off her shoes while I'm trying to strap her into her carseat! (What is it with kids and eating snow? It's something instinctive they do...no one has to show them how it's done...they just do it!) We haven't yet had a chance to go out and play in the snow, but last night's dumping provided some great, fluffy, beautiful snow to play in...so we may have to venture outside later today.

My Christmas tree finally came, so now I can decorate it...and then I'll have to snap some pictures of our house for everyone to see our comfy, cozy home. (Or you can all just come and visit us!) The joys of owning an actual home come with some great things, and some not so great things. One of those things (I can't decide yet if it's a great thing, or a not so great thing cause I'm still enjoying doing it) is shoveling the walks. This morning while I was out shoveling my walks, my neighbor's son-in-law came to shovel her walks...and I realized it was my philosophy professor I had years ago! So I reintroduced myself (he said he remembered my name), and we proceeded to shovel walks side by side! It was quite interesting doing such a mundane thing with someone who has such a brilliant mind and such intriguing thoughts! Oh, and my storytelling professor from years ago is also in our ward! It's great being in a college town!!

Anywho...I'm loving the snow...for the moment...we'll see how I feel in another four months when there's still snow on the ground!!

We Are Finally HERE!!!!

2009-11-24T18:52:00.000-08:00

Hooray!!! Dexter is thrilled to be in our new home...and so is the rest of the family!! (oh, how i love that smile). Condo is empty, clean, and sold. New home is cluttered, clean, and cold. (Logan has quite the chill in the air). I have spent the last 10 days cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, and cleaning some more. And there's still the whole downstairs I haven't gotten to. (Oh, well, that'll come in it's own due time.)

The saddest part about leaving Saratoga (besides leaving our family and friends), was leaving this beautiful piece of art behind. Thanks to all who came to help us move out and move in.

Savy loves her new home, and loves sharing a room with her brother. She's sad to see her dad leave for work ever morning (again!?!), but she loves having him home for lunch. She wants to play at the park and frequently sneaks outside when my back is turned. She's sleeping through the night again (hooray), but spends a lot of time in time-out. She's talks about going to school every day with the kids and the boys and driving in her pink car that's down in Saratoga Springs! Her imagination is expanding so quickly, and it's fun to be pulled into her world everyday. I love being home with her...I just need a frequent re-boost of patience.

And this little guy is the happiest little guy! He is such an angel for me...when he's well fed and well rested...which is most of the day. (I gave him rice cereal for the first time, and this was the face he pulled. "What are you trying to shove in my mouth?" He's not sure what to think about it.) Dex is growing so fast and his sweet little personality is starting to show through. He loves his family, and we love trying to get him to laugh. His smile is the best thing to wake up to.

Needless to say...we are all adjusting quite well to our new home. We love Logan. We love our house. And we are anxious to have people come share in our experience up here in Logan!

Happy Halloween...

2009-11-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

This is all you get. After sitting here for almost an hour trying multiple times to upload photos to my blog, this is all I have patience for. (does anyone else struggle with uploading photos). Needless to say...you all better be freaking excited this picture is here for you to see. Savy wore that same sad look anytime she was in her monkey costume, Dex could have cared less, and Ninja Amber kicked Rocker Sambo's boo-tay with her Samurai sword!! We had a great Halloween, and maybe some day I'll have the patience to sit down and share with everyone the creepy pictures from the rocking Halloween party my sister threw for our family the night before!!

Our New Home

2009-11-01T16:49:00.000-08:00

Here she is. The future home of the Stromanians. Odd how it came into our lives. We found a park we absolutely adored one evening, so we decided to drive around the neighborhood to see if there were any houses for sale. And this one was. So next time we came to Logan to look for houses, we saw this one. Loved it, wanted it, but it was a bit outta our price range, so we dismissed it. Next time we came up, we saw it again, and loved it even more!! But at this time, someone else put in an offer. So we came home and tried to make the number add up so we could counteroffer. However, the owner had already accepted some money from the other buyers. So we sadly dismissed the house from our minds once more. And then a month later, the owner calls us to say the buyers had fallen through. So we traveled up to Logan the next day, looked closely at every little detail, and put in an offer. And now it's ours!! We are sooo excited. It has four bedrooms, two baths, original hardwood floors, newly remodeled kitchen and bathroom, one car garage, and it's across from the most fabulous park! We are absolutely thrilled!!

We Have a House!

2009-10-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

After lots and lots and lots of trips up to Logan, we finally have a house!! It's not officially ours yet, but we have a verbal agreement...and we're keeping our fingers crossed that everything goes through okay!! Finding a house is sooo stressful. We wanted the perfect one, but after looking at a gazillion and one, we realized the perfect one wasn't out there, so we settled on one that's really close to perfect. It's weird how things worked out with this house...the Lord certainly works in mysterious ways...but we are soo glad to things are working out. Logan...here we come!!

oh, and to welcome us to Logan, we had a magnificent snow storm up there yesterday.

Fall...a wonderful time of year!!

2009-10-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

Cornbelly's, Pumpkin Patches, Halloween Festivities, Rocktoberfest, and Fantastic Fall Weather...who wouldn't love fall?

Happy Birthday Sambo!!!

2009-10-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

I tried to find my super embarrassing photos of you, but this is all I could come up with!! Happy 29th B-day! You and all your silliness are greatly loved, Mr. Stroman!!

Dexter's Big Day

2009-10-01T21:20:00.001-07:00

It was a beautiful day. The weather cooperated. Family and friends gathered. All to celebrate our little boy. And the wonderful blessings he has entitled to him. What a wonderful day.

This is the extent of their relationship. Savy trying to get as close to Dex as she possibly can. And Dex screaming to get away from her. (Okay, so I fib a bit...Dex already adores her and searches the room to find her when he hears her voice.)

Four generations of the Whittaker family. Sam comes from some wonderful people, and we're blessed to have them in our lives.

Four generations of the Thomas family. I have been so blessed to have these wonderful people in my life. I hope they'll be around for a lot of Dexter's life.

Proud father with his son. Thanks, Sam, for being a conduit for the Lord's preisthood. You gave a very neat blessing to our son.

Two of my crazy sisters. I heart them and all their silliness.

Proud mother and darling son. I can't get enough of my big boy and his chubby cheeks!!

The silly Stroman family. Savy can't take a normal picture. She says "1, 2, cheeeeeeeeese" the whole time the picture is being taken. Dexter's still getting used to our family. I'm not so sure he's comfortable with what he's gotten himself into. Oh, well. We have eternity to show him how fun it is to just be silly.

Thanks to everyone who showed up to support our chubby little boy. We love seeing you all.

2009-09-29T07:45:00.001-07:00

These two make up my life at this moment. I have all day to devote to them. I used to think I didn't want to be a stay at home mom. And I thought it was pretty selfish of me to think so. I enjoyed getting out every day and doing something worthwhile. Something that meant something to more than just two little people. I felt needed and I felt like I could make a huge difference as a teacher, and I felt really good at what I did. I loved it. Then I got to spend time with my little ones. And actually sit down and worry about nothing but them. I didn't have the constant worry in the back of my head about the other 26 kids in my life. (You teachers know how it is. You can't ever stop worrying about your students.) I had a really hard time the first few weeks. I craved adult conversation and I felt overwhelmed as a mom. I didn't feel appreciated. Then something clicked. As I read stories to my daughter while feeding my little man I realized this is what it's really all about. These two are what it's all about. If all I do all day is make my daughter giggle and my son smile, I've made a difference. In two of the most important peoples' lives. My children. So whether you're a stay at home mom, a working mom, a mother to be, you've been a mom, or you mother someone else's children, remember what it's all about. Them. And make a difference in their lives. Make them smile.

Summer Camping Trip

2009-09-10T19:25:00.000-07:00

As summer came to an end, my family decided to say good-bye to summer and drive to Currant Creek for some camping. There is no better way to say farewell to the warm summer days and welcome to the cold winter nights than being in the outdoors, sleeping in tents, and sitting around a campfire.
We enjoyed roasting marshmallows over the campfire (and I enjoyed eating all of them), trying unsuccessfully to catch some fish, throwing rocks into the water, taking a ride in the canoe, tossing around frisbees, chasing cousins around, and most of all...getting dirty! I was surprised at how often one of the six walking grandkids fell over and skinned a knee!! The kids loved camping! (and us grown-ups did, too)

Jack (my parents pup) was the most exhausted. He chased anything he could into the water...rocks, sticks, more rocks. Savy discovered a new fascination while up there...ROCKS! She loved tossing them into the lake.

Eli was the busiest boy I've ever seen! He was all over the place! (Savy loves to feel grown up and help Eli out)

Two of my three heart throbs.

And here's my third heart throb. Although by his cross-eyed look, one might wonder how he could melt any one's heart!

Thanks, fam, for throwing together such a wonderful weekend. Maybe next year we'll last longer than two days!!

The Average Joes

2009-09-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

After months of cheering, the kickball season has come to an end. Savy, Dex, and I had a great time cheering on Sammy and the rest of the crew. There were many great moments (and only a few embarrassing moments)! Now I find myself wondering what will I do with my Thursday nights? I guess I'll have to be satisfied with watching SYTYCD.

My Sweet Savy

2009-08-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

This girl is absolutely amazing!! Daily, Sam and I look at ourselves and ask, "Is she for real? Do we really have such a sweet, smart, silly, beautiful girl?" We are quite biased, but she's convinced us there is noone better, cuter, smarter, or funnier than our little two year old. Here are a few of her (and our) favorites.

Reading Where the Wild Things Are. She has it memorized and can read almost the whole thing back to us.

Singing songs--I Am a Child of God, I Love to See the Temple, Families Can Be Together Forever, Itsy-Bitsy Spider, and the Turtle Song.

Waking up at 6:30 in the morning and asking for "Elmo." (It's educational, so it's okay if she watches it every freaking morning, right?)

Mothering her babies--she's become quite the expert mother. She breastfeeds, burps, walks, and sings her babies to sleep.

Dancing--anytime a good dancing song comes on she says "Pretty song. Mommy, dance. Dance like me."

and last (although I could go on forever)--her politeness. She was supposed to be sleeping the other day, but as I walked by her door, I coughed, and from her bedroom I heard..."bless you."

Seriously, how did she turn out the way she has? She's absolutely incredible and I love her to pieces!!

Fun, Fun, and more Fun!!

2009-08-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

FUN can finally serenade my every move!! This is one of the best albums I've had the pleasure of listening to for quite a long time! Can't wait to rock out to it in the car!!

If you have not been introduced to FUN, check them out! (Listen to Be Calm. It's my upmost favorite) It's the lead singer of the Format and some other talented people from Anathello (forgive me for the attempt at spelling their name)!! And, if you don't know who the Format is....it's my numero uno band, so check them out as well!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

2009-08-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my 26th birthday. And what a great birthday it was!! My husband was wonderful to me and gave me all a woman could ever ask for...he got up with the baby during the night so I could sleep for a five hour stretch at a time (haven't done that in months), he entertained Savy in the morning so I could stay in bed until 9:00, he let me spend the evening with my whole family eating good food and playing an intense game of pounce, and then he let me take a nice hot bath while reading a good book!! What more could a woman want? And to top it all off, we're going to take dancing lessons up in Logan. Watch out SYTYCD season 7, here we come!!! Thanks, Sambo, for making it a wonderful day!!

Oh, and my mom also made me a delicious banana chocolate chip cake...Mmmmm, Mmmmm, Good!!!

This next year is going to be full of changes, but I am excited to take them on!! Here's to 26 years of life!!

Logan...Here We Come!!!

2009-08-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

Sam's brother offered him a job up in Logan. And after a week of serious thinking and praying, we decided to take it! We've spent almost 4 years away from the sweet little town of Logan, and now we're going to return to the beautiful Cache Valley with our two chitlens. I'm excited, yet a bit hesitant about returning to those cold winter months. I'm just trying to not think too hard about the things I'll be leaving behind, because then the tears will come. But I will be able to spend more time with my kids and who wouldn't love to spend time with these sweet things??

Dex is growing like a weed. He's gained two pounds and two inches since we've been home!! He's starting to get a little chunk to him, and to get a bit fussy, but that just means I get to hold him close to me more often. (He's currently snuggled up on my chest while his sister is snoozing in the next room)!

I've loved watching the relationship that's starting to grow between Savy and her little bro. She's such a sweetheart to him (even though she can be quite the stinker to me). Quite the special bond between siblings. It starts at such an early age, and grows and grows over the years. The close proximity I have to my sisters right now is what I'm going to miss the most!!!

Sleep...How I Miss You!!

2009-07-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

Sleep = Patience

No sleep = No patience

And poor Savana has to suffer the consequences of my sleep (or lack thereof).

2009-07-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

My sweet, little, Dexter.
There is nothing sweeter than a baby who's sleeping...and will take a binkie!! Dexter took right to nursing AND to a binkie. It sure makes life quite a bit easier with the binkie in tow!!

These are two of the cutest girls you'll ever meet. They're going to be the best of friends and the biggest drama queens around! Pyper has the best facial expressions around, and Savy is such a drama ham right now...I can't imagine what it's going to be like in ten years from now!! (We didn't plan the matching hair or shirts. It just so happens that we both like to shop incredible deals...and neither could pass up the 99 cent tank!!) It's nice having family members with kids the same age as ours. I only wish we lived closer to them. Maybe someday we'll join them up in Logan (cause I know there's no convincing them to move down here!!)

Dexter

2009-07-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post pictures about my beautiful baby boy, but our internet has been crazy, and whenever it is actually working, Sammy's also working, so my access to the interweb has been limited. But here's some pictures of Dexter and his family. If you want to read about his journey into this world, check out my husband's witty retelling of how it all went down! And be patient with me on any updates on our lives. Life with two kids is quite a bit different than life with one!!!

Dexter's cousin, Ginger, beat him into the world by 8 days. It's surprising the difference a few days makes in the life of a newborn. Ginger's so much more alert and aware of the world around her, while all Dex can do is scream his manly scream (he missed out on the newborn cry. He simply squawks and squeals...no cute newborn cry for him).

Daddy's little boy

Savy has been so sweet with her baby brother. She always wants to know where the baby is. She was obssessed with his hat at the hospital and always insisted it be on his head. We'll see how long the sweetness lasts.

Nothing more precious than kisses from my little girl.

We're all dressed up and ready to go home.

He looks so teeney in his car seat! Okay, not only does he look teeney...but he is teeney! He dropped down to 5 lb 12 oz by the time we left the hospital. Just a teensey little thing!

Home at last! Dex was introduced to his binkie shortly after our arrival home, and has thoroughly enjoyed it since then.

And Savy giving her baby brother sweet little kisses. She loves to give him his binkie when he's said and stroke his head while saying..."You're okay, you're okay, you're okay."

The Bean Museum

2009-07-08T12:33:00.000-07:00

No, it's not a museum dedicated to lima beans, pinto beans, and all other sorts of beans...it's a stuffed animal museum! And they're HUGE life-size real live (at one point in time) stuffed animals. Savy was quite unsure what to think of the large animals...but after her daddy scaring her into tears a few times, she finally warmed up and realized they weren't really real. They were just really dead!!

Check out the look on her face. She certainly didn't like sitting that close to the elephant.

The Hippo was trying to eat us. I tried to feed just Savy to the hippo, but Savana wouldn't have it. Besides, she's probably much too sweet for the hippo's appetite.

Go COUGARS!!! Sam was proud to stand next to the cougar while wearing his BYU shirt. He was even more proud to have Savy do the Cougar Cheer. But what made him the most proud, was when Savy's nursery teacher pulled out a little BYU football, and Savy proceeded to do the cheer for her whole nursery class!

What a lame excuse for scary faces. I think they got scary mixed up with silly. (Although if I was to see Savy running after me with her face contorted like that, I might run the other way!)

Big Girl Bed

2009-07-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

The best thing about having Savy in a big girl's bed: She can get up on her own.

The worst thing about having Savy in a big girl's bed: She can get up on her own.

If she can't fall asleep at night, she'll open her door and stand there asking for mommy, milk, cereal, one more book, or a song to be sung to her. Or she'll look out her bedroom door and spy on Walmart or Utah Lake. Or she'll simply get up and play with her toys.

In the middle of the night, she simply walks into our bedroom, stands next to my side of the bed (she refuses to go to her daddy in the night), and wait for me to get out and carry her back to bed. Then she'll simply roll over and go right back to sleep. It's like she needs to be reminded that her mommy is still there...or maybe she just needs to be tucked in...whatever it is, I secretly enjoy tucking her in again. Just don't let her know!

All in all, the big girl bed has been a big success...and she absolutely loves being in something BIG GIRL!! (now if we can only convince her that it's even cooler to be a big girl who pees in the potty!!)

It's the thought that counts...right?

2009-06-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

We attempted to visit the temple today. We even rearranged our schedules to go during Savy's naptime so it'd be easy to leave her. We drove to the temple and was met with a sign....Temple Closed. So we decided to go visit the new Draper temple. And then remembered they don't rent temple clothing (which we needed). So we turned around, and found our way to the nearest movie theater for an uplifting viewing of Wolverine!!

She's Finally Two!!!

2009-06-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

My sweet baby girl had her birthday and turned a whopping two years old! It's crazy to think she's been in my life for two whole years. It's hard to imagine that I've been a mother to this beautiful girl for two years...I can't remember life without her. What did I fill my life with before there was feeding time, nap time, playtime, snack time, diaper changes, and the constant cleaning up? And where did I find joy before when now it's so often found in the precious smile of my daughter? I love being a mom...and can't wait to experience being a mother of two (and of a two-year-old). Here's a few highlights from her birthday party.

Her fabulous Minnie Mouse cake. She'd been talking about it all week, and any time her birthday was mentioned, she had to mention the Minnie Mouse cake she was going to eat. Although it took me much longer to prepare, I was quite impressed with how it turned out!

Swimming in the pool. Jared and his boys were the only ones brave enough to jump into the water, and Savy certainly couldn't be left out of the pool! Jared was sweet enough to entertain her along with his kids!

I was surprised Savy actually knew what to do with the candles!! There was no spit involved, and yet she actually got the candles to blow out!! She was thrilled to have everyone sing "Happy Birthday to Vanna" (which is what she's been singing all week) and was even more excited to take the candles out of the cake and eat them like any child would do!

Enjoying the cake. The frosting turned our mouths very red. And after cake was the long awaited....PRESENT TIME!!

Sam sat next to her to help her open presents and to try to get her to appreciate all the presents and everyone's thoughtfulness. Savy was actually quite overwhelmed and tired by the time presents rolled around, so she just sat there very somber like and opened presents and did whatever her mommy or daddy asked her to (say thank you, pose for a picture, give grandma a hug, etc.).

She got spoiled rotten, but really enjoyed all the presents she got...a baby doll, a kitchen, lots of play food, a Snow White dress-up, and a stylish purse with all sorts of goodies!

Oh, and her bike! She's been eyeing the bike folded up on our garage shelf for the last week (I did a fantabulous job of hiding it from her view), so she was excited to find out she could actually ride it! The next morning, the first thing she said when she got out of bed was "play with my kitchen? ride my bike?" She loved all her presents, all the attention, but mostly, her family for coming out to show their love for her.

2009-06-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

My little girl is no longer my baby. She's a grown up, "big girl." In preparation for our little baby boy, we upgraded her bed to a twin bed. And she absolutely loves it! The first night I laid her down in it I just stared at her little body tucked under the covers and thought...this can't be my baby girl. She's much too little to be sleeping in a bed this size. Why do they have to grow up so fast? I want to freeze Savy in time and keep her like this forever. She is so sweet and sassy at the same time and has an incredibly silly sense of humor! I love her to pieces and can't imagine her getting any better than she is right now!

Yellowstone

2009-06-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

For our first and last and only vacation of the summer, we took off with my family the day after school got finished and headed off to beautiful Yellowstone. We stayed in West Yellowstone and traveled into the park almost everyday. We saw buffalo, elk, baby buffalo, bald eagles, geysers, waterfalls, and lots of stinky hot pots. The first time Savy saw a hot pot next to the road she said, "Look, Mommy. Fire. Fire in the dirt." And then after we walked around them for a while and she realized the steam equaled stink, she'd say "I don't want it" and hide her face from the stinky steam!! We had a great time hanging out with the family. Savana was certainly the highlight of the trip for everyone since she was the only grandkid along. She got spoiled rotten and loved every second of it. Only my mom, dad, Mallory, and Taran could make it to Yellowstone, but we had a wonderful time playing games, swimming, walking around town, eating ice cream almost every day, seeing the wonders of the world, and watching lame movies (lameness only in reference to Young Frankenstein. All the other movies about Yellowstone were anything but lame!)

Savy was quite the trooper on all our car rides. She entertained herself with singing, books, talking, or sleeping. We stopped at Rexburg for a much needed break (that's why they're both smiling so big)!

Here's the grumpy Savana we saw only once or twice. She'd woken up from a short nap and only wanted her mommy. But mommy was too weak to carry two babies down the stairs, so she got to ride on Bompa's shoulders...and she wasn't happy about that at all!

The great town of Mammoth (if you can call it a town) always provides us with a close-up view of Elk, some Mammoth hot springs, and delicious ice cream.

If you look closely behind us, there's a buffalo hiding in the trees. This is the first one we saw up close and personal, and Sam kept trying to get him to chase our car. Luckily, the buffalo was too tired to jump at any of Sammy's shouting.

Cheesing on the back of her daddy. She quite enjoyed riding with her dad. With Sam, there's never a dull moment, so she loved all the songs and silly things her daddy was doing along the way.

Our sweet little family hanging out by the stinky geyser. We waited for this one to go off, but it was one of the many unpredictable geysers, so we weren't quite so lucky.

Another stinky hot springs.

Trying on Bompa's goggles. Cool Dude!

Enjoying the stink once more.

These were actually quite beautiful hot springs. I wish the camera would do them justice. Such beautiful colors.

Watching the most famous geyser...Old Faithful!!

This was my favorite...the waterfalls at Yellowstone. The falls and the canyon walls make for a breathtaking view.

Savy had been talking about seeing bears at Yellowstone all week, so we went to this discovery place where they had bears and wolves to see. When we got there, she was more interested in climbing around then seeing the actual bears.

This is my kind of teddy bear.

We watched a movie at the IMAX on Yellowstone, and the closing shot was of a huge bear standing on his hind legs growling ferociously at us. So later that evening, when I put Savy in her newly-purchased bear jammies, she kept being the big bear on the movie and growling away. Her growl wasn't quite so ferocious. She's going to have to work on it.

Thanks mom and dad for a fun vacation. And thanks Savy for being such a trooper. You are one fantabulous little girl!!

2009-05-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

Here it is. My big belly. In all it's glory. Hiding inside there is my little baby boy...and what an active little boy he is. Constantly moving. I love it. I love feeling the little movements. It's still so weird to think about a little body growing and stretching and living inside of mine...even the second time around. The beautiful wonders of creation. It blows my mind. A woman's body is an amazing thing...and it can do incredible things to bring another life into this world. I'm so glad to be a woman and to have the opportunity to be a mother. I love my little family.

2009-05-16T07:28:00.001-07:00

It's a beautiful Saturday morning. Both kids (Sammy and Savy) are sleeping the morning away. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and I have a few minutes all to myself. School is winding down, which I'm thrilled for, but the summer looks to be even more busy than my days teaching kindergarten. I've got classes to take, a classroom to move, Yellowstone to visit, and a baby to get ready for. At least the second baby's easier to get ready for than the first baby. Now if it could only have been a girl, it would have been even easier! My tummy is getting huge (someday I'll feel sexy enough to take a picture of my belly and post it for the whole world to see), but until then, just imagine me with a basketball shoved up my shirt. I have less than three months to grow, and I'm already down to two week appointments. Keep your fingers crossed with me that this baby comes early, because I have to get back to teaching too close to his due date. All in all, life is good. A little hectic and stressful at times, but my sweet little girl forces me to take time and enjoy life daily.

The First Hunt

2009-04-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

My family was heading out of town on Saturday to vacation in sunny California, so we got the grandkids together on Friday night and had a delicious summer barbecue and an exciting Easter Egg Hunt!

All the grandkids are ready to attack the back yard in search of "treasure-filled" eggs. (Savy's already realizing that boys have cooties and it's important to sit as far away from them as possible.)

Savy caught on rather quickly to the idea of finding eggs. She was very focused and determined as she went around her work of collecting eggs.

That is, until she discovered there was candy in the eggs. And then her determination turned from egg-finding to candy-eating.

The Easter bunny also filled the eggs with goldfish crackers, little toys, and fruit snacks. However, as Savy speedily opened up her eggs at the end of the huny, everything got tossed back into the basket except for the candy. And everytime a candy-filled egg was found, she'd shout out "candy!" and then straightaway shove it in her mouth. Thanks mom and dad for having a wonderful Easter dinner and hunt!

2009-04-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

To the ladies who participated in spreading some love...here's your love.

Nuckolls, Jr.

2009-04-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

Here's little "baby bruder." He's healthy, measured perfectly, and is still a boy! I got to watch him suck his hand and give me a sweet little yawn. I went solo to my ultrasound appointment. Sammy came to my last appointment, and we convinced the doctor to let us take a peek at the gender, so Sam already knew the important part and decided to stay at work. I had to laugh because as I was waiting solo in the waiting room, in walked this cute prego girl with her whole freaking family! Both sets of parents, hubby, and brothers and sisters...all here to watch her little baby on the ultrasound! The joy of that first baby/grandbaby! And although the second baby is just as special and wonderful, it doesn't carry quite the same excitement and anticipation as the first!

Entertaining Oneself

2009-04-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is how my daughter spent a few precious moments of her time during Young Womens/Young Mens last Wednesday. Sam and I are both in the Presidencies, so once a month, we get to spend our Wednesday evenings together. While the youth were having a food fight in the gym, Savy was entertaining herself with the cupboards, spoons, and even a sharp knife at one point! (we're such good parents!)

She's trying to fit her cute little body into the cupboard space.

She tried to turn her body around and sit up, but decided there wasn't enough room for her to do so.

So she climbed out, opened the other cupboard door, and attempted to squeeze her little body in once more.

But alas, she still can't sit up. So she pulled her sad face, climbed back out, and was off to entertain herself with some other object in the church kitchen.

2009-04-06T12:11:00.001-07:00

Congrats to my winners! Celeste, Tiona, and Hailey....you may have to be a little bit patient...I'll get my gift to you as soon as I can! Be excited, cause it'll be freaking awesome!!

spreading some more love

2009-03-31T14:40:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago, holly posted a give-away on her blog, and i jumped at the chance hoping to get an adorable little skirt from her (which i did, and it's better than adorable). so know it's my turn to spread the love.

Here's the deal:
1. The winners will be the first three people to comment on this post.
2. You will win something made by me. Something good.
3. Now it's your turn to serve someone else. You are supposed to do the same giveaway on your blog.

It's not very hard, so let's spread a little love!

and as soon as i'm home on my computer, i'll post pictures of savy sporting her new skirt.

"and you'd think I'd understand that a rock'n'roll band doesn't mean a blessed thing"

2009-03-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

I believe in exposing my children to quality experiences when they're young. And what better time to start then when they're in the womb? We exposed Savana to the awesome experience of rocking out to one of the best bands on this planet (The Shins) when she was but a wee one of six months young in the womb. And to make sure Nuckolls Junior doesn't miss out on a wonderful opportunity such as that, we took him last night, at five months young in the womb, to witness an even better experience of rocking out...Bishop Allen came to town...and rock out they did.

2009-03-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

The saying "it takes a village to raise a person" couldn't be more true about my child. Savana has spent more of her waking hours this last week with someone other than mom. And I am so lucky to have such wonderful people around to care for my little girl. She's visited someone new almost every day this week! You know who you are, those wonderful people who I've trusted my Savy's care with over the last few days. Thank you, thank you, thank you for loving my daughter like your own!!

It's a beautiful day for a wedding...

2009-03-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

Today is the day my little sister gets married. I'm so excited for her! Marriage is quite the journey. You learn so much about yourself over the years. I don't think anything has changed me quite as much as being a wife and being a mother. I've had to learn to be a lot less selfish, a lot more patient, and be a much better communicator. (Thanks, Sammy, for teaching me so much in our many years together!) Brynn and her soon-to-be-hubby make a stunning couple. I can't wait to see the look of pure joy on their faces today!!

All Girl

2009-03-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

Savy surprised me today at how much a girl she really is. She's obsessed with shoes, and loves fingernail polish. Her nails have been done twice in the last week, once even by her bompa!! (I don't recall my dad ever painting any of us six girls' nails when we were growing up, but he supposedly painted Savy's nails three times until he was satisfied with the color!!! Isn't he great!!) And today she pulled out my nail polish and picked out pink for my toes and purple for hers. Girls. Always in need of a fresh paint of polish.

And to top it all off, some beautiful "princess" shoes were delivered to our house for Brynn's wedding on Saturday. She wanted to put them on immediately, told me they were "pretty," and then spent the later half of the afternoon sporting her new sparkly shoes and her pink tutu.

It makes me secretly giddy to see how much of a girl she can be. (except for when it comes to her girly moods!!)

Baby's in bed, hubbies off to work, chores are done, school work finished...it's time to draw a hot bath and relax with my incredilby addicting book!!

It's a ......

2009-03-03T18:38:00.000-08:00

We took a visit to the doctor's office and convinced them that we desperately needed to find out the gender of our baby. So our doctor, who had been running around like crazy all afternoon going back and forth between his office and the hospital, graciously whisked us into the ultrasound room, squirted warm squishy gel onto my body, and quickly located our baby on the ultrasound. We saw the baby's head, arms, legs, butt, and right in between the bootay was a "something suspicious." I asked if it was suspicious enough to be considered a boy, and he said, "yep, definitely." So Sammy, Savy, and I will be welcoming a little boy into our home next summer. Hooray!!!! We are stoked!!

2009-03-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

i love the independency of a 20-month old. she can't quite do anything by herself, but she sure as heck is going to try. everything is "self" or "no, mommy" or "no, help," all while pushing my hand out of the way. it takes her five minutes to do what it would have taken me one minute to do. walking up our three flights of stairs is agonizingly slow as she stops and looks at every rock, wrapper, and crack. (meanwhile, my shoulder feels as though it's going to break off from the fifty-pounds of bags i've got slung over my it and my bladder's going to burst) but she must have her independence. she insists on it. outwardly i groan, while inwardly i shout for joy or hold back tears because she's getting so big, but growing up way too fast. and nobody ever told me how moody an almost two-year old girl can be.

Code for Poop

2009-02-27T14:49:00.000-08:00

One of Savy's favorite things to do is take a little crap when she's supposed to be napping. She ends up stinking up her whole room, or sometimes our whole house, and usually misses out on her nap because by the time I go rescue her, she's been in her crib for about an hour and won't go back to bed. Oftentimes she'll just talk herself to sleep, or talk instead of sleeping, and sometimes she'll talk instead of sleeping because she can't sleep with her stinky bum. So the other day we laid her down for nap, let her talk for an hour, went in to get her up and was blasted by her stink. Sammy decided Savana needed to learn a code word to let us know when she was poopy so we could change her bum. He sat there for a good five minutes while changing the stinky diaper (he's such a good hubby, eh?) and practiced having her say "Mommy, poopy, change bum." I thought it just went over her head. But today, after taking a refreshing dip in the Lehi Legacy Pool with my sis and her littlest boys, I laid her down for a nap, hopped in the shower, and started browsing on the computer. Savy was blabbing away in her crib, and I was baffled as to why she hadn't fallen asleep yet. I even stuck my nose in to smell her room, and it didn't stink. So I just let her talk. And then I listened to what she was saying. And I heard, "mommy, change bum, mommy, change bum," in a little sing-song voice. Did she really understand what her daddy was teaching her yesterday? And sure enough, I walked in her room and was blasted, once again, by her stink. (I must have stuck my nose in prematurely before). So I changed her bum, put her back in her crib, and am now enjoying my peace and quiet while she's sleeping.

It always amazes me how much she understands and what she picks up on. Kids are so observant at this age and simply soak everything in. I need to remember to never underestimate Savy's capabilities. She's a smart, beautiful, incredibly entertaining girl who can learn code words about poop.

Stinky Air and Expressing Feelings

2009-02-24T19:12:00.000-08:00

I just spent the afternoon with the most beautiful bride-to-be, Brynn! She is so gorgeous, it's impossible to get a bad shot of her. We traveled all the way out to SaltAir and were blessed with the most beautiful weather, and the most awful smell! The Great Salt Lake surely does stink! I wish I would have thought to grab my camera so I could snap a few shots of her. She looked absolutely incredible! (Brynn, does it hurt to be so beautiful?)

I've really loved the time I've been able to spend with my sister over the past few weeks. Her life is crazy busy with all the wedding plans, but I've enjoyed being a part of some of the craziness. I'm blessed to have five wonderful sisters, four who are close by and one who's left the comforts of home to join her hubby far, far, away. Life with girls is certainly great, and certainly crazy, and sometimes absolutely insane (when we are all home our hormones are connected and we have a week of PMS among ALL of us), but I certainly love it. It's interesting to look back on our childhood and our lives nowadays and contemplate how we all turned out the way we did. One would think that growing up in a life of girls would promote serious communication, heart-pouring, feeling-sobbing, skills, but this seems to be one of the area I am lacking in, and in talking with one of my sisters, it seems to be common throughout the fam. Why is it so hard to express my/our feelings?

My hubby has wonderful communication skills and he's helped me to express those feelings that can be so hard to express. But I still struggle sometimes. It's not hard for me to express my happy feelings, it's the feelings of insecurity, sadness, unsureness, doubt, depression, etc. that I find hard to share. It's almost like I have to put on a face/facade to the world around me that says I'm always happy. I am usually a happy person, but why can it be so hard to express the sad part of ourselves? Is it because we feel so vulnerable in those stages? I'm convinced that the only way someone can really know me and I can really know them is if we can share our true selves with one another...the happy self and the sad self. It's not a shame to be sad, depressed, lonely, insecure, upset, angry, mad, etc...everyone feels that way...we just have to learn to express these feelings in a healthy way.

I'm not sure why this post turned into a rambling about my feelings and inability to express them, but I admire those people around me who let their true selves shine and who accept me and my true self. I hope I can learn to let down my barrier a bit to let people in to see who I truly am. I tend to let people see what it is I think they want to see in myself instead of truly just being myself. Maybe as I learn to express myself, I can find out who I really am and let everyone see what I'm really made of.

2009-01-27T18:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I have begun the process of de-christmasing my house! Yipee!!! And, I know I promised Christmas cards, but we still haven't gotten around to that, so don't feel bad if you didn't get one, just blame it on my procrastination plus laziness plus pregnancy plus whatever other shortcoming you want to bless me with. We still love you all.

Can I just tell you, life with a 19th month old is great. Savy's so freaking entertaining and brings a smile to my face more than anyone or anything else! The other night I was giving her a bath at my parent's house, and like it always happens at my parent's house, me and Savy had an audience. (Who doesn't love to see her big belly and little rolls exposed?) While bathing, Savy and I both experienced something we've never encountered before....a poop in the tub! Savy's on her knees and says "poo-poo", and precedes to let a turd loose into the tub. (Luckily it was very solid!) While I'm freaking out and throwing a towel to Sammy so I can get her out of the tub, Savy's floaty proceeds to travel closer to her. She takes one look at it, and starts screaming. Not just any old scream, but a high pitched wail. She has a look of terror on her face as she's trying to scramble up my arms and away from that, that....THING!!! I could barely hold her I was laughing so hard. But who can blame her? Something that large and unknown floating towards me would make me a little apprehensive! Anyway, I got the biggest kick out of it. Oh, how I love that girl!!!

Still Christmas at the Stromans

2009-01-21T13:10:00.000-08:00

So I've been a little behind on things in my life. I've had too much going on, and I've felt too crappy to really make an effort to do anything I don't absolutely have to do. Hence the reason I still have Christmas hanging up at my house. Yep, It's been almost a month past Christmas, and I still haven't taken it down. It's not that I love Christmas and want it up all the time, it's just that I've had way too many things going on to actually do it. Here are a few things our family's been up to the past month or so.

1. Adoring our baby girl. She's growing up way too fast and is turning into quite the handful, but all Sammy and I can do at times is just watch her with big grins on our faces and say to one another..."She is sooo freaking cute!!!"

2. Visiting with Santa. He brought Mrs. Claus to our family Christmas party to check up on whether the kids have been naughty or nice. It took Savy awhile to work up the courage to sit on his lap, and then, she only lasted long enough until she realized who was actually holding her. Old men with beards tend to frighten her. (but maybe that's a good thing!)

3. Rocking out on Rockband. My parents finally caved in, and after almost 30 years of parenting, they bough their first gaming system...along with the best game in all of the land. Savy especially enjoys playing the drums. Oh, and for those of you who care, my singing voice is coming along quite nicely. (I sound pretty good compared to the rest of my sisters!!!)

4. Christmas, Christmas, and more Christmas. We were too busy videotaping Christmas morning to get any decent pictures of Savy with her toys. She had a great time opening her presents, but it took her awhile to warm up to all the new toys. She wasn't quite sure what to do with all of them. On top of opening presents, we also spend mucho amounts of time with family, made gingerbread houses, ate decent food, ran away to the cabin with my fam for a few days, and got to see my sis and her hubby from Kentucky. Twas good fun.

5. Lounging around. This is Savana's preferred style to lounge. Me, it's on the front couch sprawled out with a good book. Sammy enjoys the video games. We did a lot of lounging. I blame it all on my 9 month sickness, (I don't know what Sammy's excuse is), but really, when you feel like crap, who wants to do anything at all?

6. Reading. She certainly takes after her mom.

7. And one of the greatest things...visit Mexico. We spent a whole week away from the cold and snowy weather and traded it for mostly cloudy/rainy + 1 day of sun with Ashlie, Andy, and Pyper. I'll tell you more about that later. Lots of stories with that trip.

8. Saw our little peanut for the first time. He'll be coming (before) July 30th. I'm convinced it's a boy, because he's making me much sicker than sweet Savy.

9. School, school, and more school. Work, work, and more work.

See, my life has been busy. (although some may say some of these things are more relaxing then busy-ness) So can you blame me for still having Christmas up?

Oh, How I "heart" Christmas Break

2008-12-30T07:37:00.000-08:00

This is what I look forward to from the moment my Kindergarteners walk through that door! Christmas Break!!! (not that I don't love my little kindergarteners, this break is just always sooooo needed!) It's been nice to be a lazy bum. Waking up to my daughters singing at 8:00 in the morning, lounging in p.j.'s till 12:00 in the afternoon, reading good books, hanging out with lots of family, and spending mucho amounts of time with my sweet baby girl and her wonderful daddy! I love, love, love Christmas Break. It's going to be devastatingly hard to get back to work next Monday. But I do have Mexico to look forward to in only a week and a half. Oh, life is good.

Family Foto Fun

2008-12-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

We had the grand idea of going to visit Santa tonight...(even though I was pretty sure Savy would scream/cry/whimper when placed on the lap of a strange bearded man)...so we traveled up to the mall, grabbed a bite to eat, and hit the Santa line at 7:15. But wait!! We were too late!!! Santa's still there, taking pictures, until 8:00, but we were too late!!! I guess Santa has a strict policy of getting out right at 8:00, not 8:05 or 8:07, so we weren't allowed to sneak into line for a pic with the jolly, red man. Savy didn't care, but I was slightly peeved. And then I found out you can't take your own pictures and you have to pay 20 bucks to get a picture from Kiddie Kandids. And I wasn't mad at Santa. Just mad at Kiddie Kandids and everyone wanting a piece of everyone else's money. So if anyone knows of a Santa my fam and I could visit for FREE, where I can snap my own picture (cause they'll turn out much better than any Kandid place), let me know!!!

And on to better, happier news....and actual photos.

Our good friend, Toni, took some wonderful family pictures of us. It was a freezing cold morning, and Savy was only good for the first little bit, but the pictures turned out great. And how could they not, with a little girl as beautiful as Savy and photographer as talented as Toni? Together, they make anything look good! Thanks, Toni, for the fantabulous fotos!!

And the best are yet to come...via Christmas/New Year's Cards. If you want one, send me your address!!

5 Day Weekends are the BEST!!

2008-12-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

Wow...it's December already! I can't even believe it. I've got my Christmas tree up, presents under the tree, but it doesn't feel like Christmas because there's no snow on the ground. Oh, well, I'm sure I'll be sick of the snow within a few days of it hitting the ground. But it sure does bring something "magical" to the season.

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I impressed myself with the tasty pies I made and the sewing projects I put together. (I can barely sew a straight line, but I somehow managed to make some baby blankies, curtains, and a baby doll blanket.) Savy got her first haircut, we hung out with both families all weekend long, ate four turkey dinners, relaxed at the cabin, saw some good movies, played some sweet games, and shopped some great deals. It was incredibly hard to go back to life, work, and reality on Monday, but lucky for me, I got to spend that evening with some amazingly zany girls who I love to pieces! We've had a wonderful few days, and I'm so grateful for the extra time I got to spend with my hubby and my little girl. Those two make life an exciting adventure. Here's a few pics from our fabulous weekend:

Even with the pink car, tinkerbell movie, and sucker, she still cried throughout most of the haircut.

My cute hubbie playing ring around the rosies with Savy and her cousins.

And finally...the people who bring smiles to my face: Sam, Savy, and my hilarious self!!

2008-11-15T08:44:00.000-08:00

"oh, let the rain fall down.
and wash this world away.
oh, let the sky be gray.
cause if it's ever gonna get any better,
it's gotta get worse for a day."

-bishop allen

thanks for letting us rock out to your sweet music.

Dinner with Savana

2008-11-11T16:59:00.000-08:00

A 30 minute episode. Hardly any food was eaten. Many words were spoken. Savy looked at me with her intense eyes and asked me question after question, each one ending in "beep," "plane," "daddy,"and "hot." I have no idea what was said, I could just tell by the look in her eyes she was contemplating the many mysteries in life. I love that girl.

2008-11-11T14:54:00.000-08:00

Something unexpected happened this last weekend, and it's brought about some serious reflective thinking on my part. And it's made me realize how little control I really have on my life. I have hopes, dreams, plans, goals, and expectations set up, but one little thing can come along and disrupt my previous plans and set me on a new path. And this new path isn't necessarily bad, it's just unplanned and unexpected. But it takes a lot of faith to continue on the new path. I'm not one to take a lot of risk, and I'm not one to patiently wait for things to happen. When I want something to happen, I want it to happen now, and I don't want a lot of "sacrifice" needed to get it. But there are important lessons learned about patience and sacrifice that we can only learn through our experiences. I don't believe anything that happens is a coincidence. There is a reason why things happen, why we meet certain people, why we have to wait for something longer than others, and why our sense of security is sometimes shaken up. And I'm just interested in finding out what it is I'm supposed to learn from this, where this new unexpected turn of events is going to take me, and if I can rise up to the challenge and grow into the person my Father in Heaven is intending for me to become through these experiences.

All Hallow's Eve

2008-11-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

I think Halloween should always be on a Friday. School teachers everywhere will agree with me...there is nothing worse than trying to teach anything to a class hyped up on sugar and lack of sleep. Is there some way we can vote to have Halloween on the last Friday of October? Maybe on next election year's ballot I'll have to petition to have an amendment to the national holidays' constitution.

Halloween rocked this year. We had a crazy fun parade and party at school, followed by more parades at my mom's school, trick-or-treating around AF main street, monster pizza and sugar cookies at my parents house, and more trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. It was a different experience trick-or-treating this year as opposed to when I was a little girl. First, no coat was needed...I walked around in a short sleeve shirt!! And secondly, there were hardly any kids. I think the trunk-or-treats are slowly fading away trick-or-treaters. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Maybe that's something else I'll have to add to my petition. Anywho, here's some pics from that great day.

Our wonderful pumpkin creations. The Maxfield's invited us up and we turned on our creative thinking skills to create these. I think they're pretty sweet pumpkins.

Brynn is obsessed with Halloween and any chance to dress up scary/zombie-like. She's supposed to be a scary doll. Her teddy bear is the creepiest part (it has three eyes and two heads).

I think mom pulled off the best Raggedy Ann doll I've seen...ever!!!

Cowgirls and villains.

Mal even got to dress up Jack...He's "Jack"ula. And, she made her own costume...pretty talented!

The Bezzant clan. Sexy kitten and brave ninjas and one cute baby.

The sugar-crazy, adorable, hyper grandkids.

And this is Taryn, Savy's new best friend. Taryn is from Norway, and Savana has taken a special liking to Taryn. She'll pass up mom, dad, bompa, grandma, and all her aunts just to get to Taryn!!

And this is Savy's second love...candy. "Cany" and "cookie" were her two favorite words.

Happy Halloween!!!

Random Photos

2008-10-28T19:43:00.000-07:00

So this is a combination post between Sammy and I. He posted the pictures and the captions, and I get to explain it all. Life has been incredibly hectic these past few weeks, but insanely fun. Sam and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary and decided to celebrate the best way parents can...dropping the sweet kid off at grandparent's for the night and spending a night alone at our very own humble abode. Our night was filled with soda, sweets, movies, sleep, and all the other stuff couples do on their anniversary (wink, wink). The best part of it all was sleeping in until 9:30 (although it doesn't beat waking up to our daughter's sweet babbles)!!

A couple of cute kids playing with the animals at Hee-Haws in Pleasant Grove.

Shanda and I also whisked our kids away to the local Hogle Zoo for some animal fun in the unusually warm October weather.

A stud and his new cape given to him on his birthday.

Sammy celebrated his b-day, and my fam blessed him with his very own BYU flag/cape. Now he can sport his true colors from our balcony. However, two weekends ago he was suffering from a serious case of Cougar let-down and was secretly trying to hide his colors.

What a good looking family. Wow!

Olive Garden just opened in our neck of the woods, and we waited one and a half hours to enjoy a birthday dinner with my fam where we ended up sitting at different tables because there was no room for our large group.

She's as cheesy as her old man.

This is the way she greets cameras, video cameras, and cell-phones.

What did I tell you? Good looking indeed! On the left is Nate Reuss, the lead singer of our favorite band — The Format. On the right is frontman for the band AIDS, uh, I mean Queen - Freddie Mercury.

And this, this is the highlight of our week. Our first annual ROKTOBERFEST was a huge success! We partied hard, Mormon style: endless bottles of root beer, candy craps, fake cigarettes that really blew out smoke if you blew out, and rocking out on Rockband till the wee hours of the night. Wow, what a great time!

The cigarette isn't real... but the rock was oh so real.

And yes, this is how disgusting my hubbie looked that night. I couldn't help but laugh everytime I laid my eyes on him.

just one more...

2008-10-07T14:19:00.001-07:00

My beautiful, little grown-up girl.

She loves her wagon, the slide, outside, her binkie and blankie (they come as a combo), milk, smarties, my friends at work who let her bother them in the office all day long (they provide her with the smarties), reading books to herself, singing, dancing, jumping on the bed, playing peek-a-boo, running away from her daddy who's incessantly chasing her, her cousins, puppies, trucks, busses, trees, and saying the word "hot"! These are just a few of her favorite things. She certainly has my heart wrapped around her little finger!!

Rockin Cabin

2008-10-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

This last week Sammy and I and Savy got away with one of our favorite couple in this universe...my bestest girlo Sheesh and her hubby Adam. We ran away to the cabin for the weekend and had a grand old time doing absolutely nothing. We pretended to listen to conferences (don't we get points for having it on), rocked our hearts out for a good couple of hours (they were even lucky enough to hear my beautiful singing voice), and played some wild card games (almost three hour marathon of nerts where I kicked sheesha's boo-tay)! I truly love these two crazy people and loved being able to hangout with them for an extended period of time. When we got home, Sammy made the comment at how "myself" I am around Sheesh and Adam. I'm even more myself around them then I am around my husband most of the time. I guess that's what happens when you know someone for 14 years of your life. You don't have to hold anything back from them....they already know everything there is to know about you. Thanks Healey's for a great weekend!!!

Sam's Shout Out

2008-10-07T13:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my hubby's b-day. He turned a whopping 28 years old. Sammy, I hope you had a rocking awesome birthday yesterday, because you certainly deserve it. A lot of people say they have the best husband, and we're lucky to be able to say that, but in all reality, I have the best of the best!!! Thanks for working so hard to be a wonderful father and husband (and wife) for our little family. You certainly make our lives exciting and full of giggles. Me and Savy love you mucho amounts! Have a wonderful 28th year of your life!!!!

Midnight Sun

2008-09-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last few days reading Midnight Sun online, and was extremely shocked when it came to an abrupt ending last night. Yes, I knew it wasn't finished and I knew it probably would never be finished, but I was still shocked to be at the end of it so soon. Just like any good book, I was sad when I came the end of it and could no longer live in the mind of Edward.

A few thoughts the book provoked: I need to think kindly about others and about myself. I'm fairly certain there are no mind readers out there, but I would be ashamed if anyone were to hear some of the things I'm thinking of (thanks Brynn for your post about that).

And 2, Bella is a much better character than I gave her credit for. To be honest, I never much cared for her character in the other 3 books, but Edward's perspective helps to see who she really is.

Just to note, I'm not obsessed with the Twilight Series (like so many fanatics around me), but I do enjoy a good read, which is exactly what they provided me with!

My Treasure

2008-09-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

Motherhood is a treasure. I was reminded of that this last week when I was talking with a friend. And almost any mother can attest to the treasures found within motherhood. Motherhood has brought out more Christ-like characteristics in me than anything else I've encountered. Patience, service, sacrifice, patience, self-less love, kindness, more patience...and that's just the beginning. I love the change that's come over me as I've grown into the role of a mother, and I've loved watching this same change take place in my girlfriends and sisters and sister-in-laws who have also become mothers...motherhood rocks!!!

second-hand store addiction

2008-09-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

I'm heading a little bit towards an addiction to this store. I walked in there today, and...voila...the playpen of my dreams is standing right in front of me! And it was for sale! And for a fraction of the price I've seen anywhere else! Yes, most everything that comes from there has been used before, but I have found the cutest things for the best price. So any moms or moms-to-be out there, hit this store before heading anywhere else. It's the best store around! Love it, love it, love it!!

(and now that it's even closer to me, i can feed my addiction more frequently)