Ok, ok...

Once again, who is a slacker? That would be me. I can't tell you how many times I get on here only to realise there are so many other things that need my attention and my blog seems to come in last. Doesn't help that the boys think that when I get the laptop out it's suddenly time to be in mommy's face and ask over and over again, whatchya doin mommy? or try and get up in my lap. Oh those boys. Good thing I love them :)

Anyways, this last month has been full of joy and full of tears for me. Much has happened and I think I'm stronger for it. I've had a couple fairly personal trials that many know about but that I don't feel comfortable sharing with the world of blogging. By far the best news has been that my older sister has finally found the man of her dreams. Though this news came on the hardest day I had, it cheered me up so much and made such a dreary day so bright and wonderful.

We were able to make a quick weekend trip to Montana to meet the man and to see everyone together. For the first time since before my little brother went on his mission, the entire family was in the same place at the same time, even if it was for a few short hours. Unfortunatly we weren't able to get a picture of everyone because those hours were in the middle of the night. Despite the trip being a short one, we had a blast spending time together and I can't wait to see everyone again. It seems like we never get to see them enough and we savor it when we are able to spent some time with them.

As for a family update, we are doing well. The boys are growing and they seem to be thriving. Jackson is nearing the end of potty training and is now fully in underwear with little to no accidents daily. We don't have a problem with him going potty at night because he is somehow able to hold it until morning. Hopefully that means we'll skip the bedwetting and not have to worry too much about it. He is quite the chatterbox and will talk the ear off a donkey given the chance. I am still constantly amazed at what comes out of his mouth and I can tell his imagination is really starting to grow. He likes to pretend and will tell me really random things or give me imaginary objects and tell me what I need to do with them. His current favorite things are chewing on random things, riding his bike and getting into anything and everything he can reach, even if it means climbing to reach the desired objects. He is such a little smarty pants and thinks very much like a boy, if you know what I mean. He can count to 10(usually skips 5 though) and can sing the ABC's song(with some of the letters a little mushed together) but he is more physical in his thinking and learning. If he cannot reach something, he will find himself something to stand on or he will try to remove whatever is blocking his path. He knows exactly how to work the tv and the blu-ray player(though he's not supposed to touch either on) and he is always trying to figure out how to work the other electronics in our home. He is definatly a hands on learner and if he sees you do something, he will most definatly try to copy you. He is always asking me questions like "What are you doing, mommy?" or "What's that Mommy?" even when he already knows the answer. Like I was at his age, his curiosity is incredible and he wants to know about everything. I have a hard time keeping up with him sometimes and would love to find better ways to help his imagination and curiosity grow.

Can you tell he's so excited his quilt is FINALLY finished?

Owen is almost 18 months and had his first time in Nursery last Sunday. I was super occupied in Primary and only heard him crying once, but other than that he seemed to have a good time. I think it helps that big brother is in there with him for now. He isn't offically old enough until the beginning of September, but I was a little stressed and Jeff is usually late coming to get him from me before church. Like his big brother, Owen too likes to chat up a storm though his vocabulary obviously has a long way to go before much of what he says is recognizable as actual words. His favorite things are his belly button(he always has his finger in it) following his brother around and randomly emitting high pitched screams just to see what we'll do about it. He is definatly entering into the terrible two's and I have to deal with daily fits that consist of him throwing himself backwards with or without me there to make sure he doesn't wack his head on things. This is usually accompanied by the high pitch screaming as well and usually results in crying and more screaming or screetching when he does land on something harder than the floor. He is also trying to become sneaky and if he knows he has something he's not supposed to have, he will try to hide it from me or run away as fast as his chubbly little legs can take him. I know it probably shouldn't, but I find his little fits highly amusing and have a hard time keeping a straight face when I should be getting after him. He's just so cute I can't help it :)

Helping out on the farm

I seem to be almost unchanging in the way I do things. My body, on the other hand, is changing of it's own accord. Remember me talking about that dairy free diet I was on? Well, it turns out that avoiding dairy has done more for me that just helping me feel better and get though the day without intestinal upset. In the 3 months since I first decided to make the change I have lost about 25lbs. All the other things I have tried, the wieght loss tips, the working out, the eating less, none of it has given me the results I've been looking for and the one change that I was so dreading and that has by far been the hardest, was the one that has made all the difference. I can't tell you how good it feels to have someone I haven't seen in a while take a double look and say to me, "You look good, have you lost weight?" I honestly don't see the results when I look in the mirror and didn't even realise I'd lost that much until I stepped on the scale at the dr's office. I was shocked. Surprised. In awe that something seemingly so insignificant to others has imacted my life so thoroughly. I feel better. I'm able to wear clothes that have been hiding under the bed since before I had Jackson and Owen. The downside though is that all my other clothes seem to fall off my behind now. We went shopping for some summery clothes about 2 weeks after I quit eating all things dairy and couldn't understand why, after a few weeks, they all suddenly seemed to be too big. I guess I'll just have some clothes to wear after our next baby :) So all in all, it is more clear now that ever that blessings will come through trials, we just have to look for them sometimes. Oh and another change for me, I highlighted my hair, so now my hair color really matches my personality :)

As for Jeff, he is as hardworking as ever. Between work, church and school I feel lucky to even be able to say Hi to him somedays. Right now he isn't actually attending any classes, but he will be starting again soon. Since he was accepted to BYU-Idaho but we aren't able to move down there just yet, he is planning on taking some online classes for this fall. We are still waiting to hear if he has been accepted into the nursing program for January and we probably won't find out until mid-November at the soonest. It is frustrating not knowing where our lives are going to be heading in the next 6 months and it's really hard to make any definate plans when our answers seem to take a long time to come. I don't know what his plan is, but my tenitive plan is to be moving to Rexburg, Idaho come January. I'm not looking forward to moving a household of things in the dead of winter, but I don't think we'll have much choice. If anyone can help me out with apartment hunting, specifically for subsidized housing as neither of us will have a job when we get there, please let me know. I've found a few places online, but the information and pictures are hard to find and don't really give details. I figure we better get our applications in now so we'll have a place to move into if we do end up down there, which I really think we will. Anyways, I hope you all stay safe until I'm able to get on here again. Love you all and hope you are well. Thanks for reading my rantings :)

I love this man!!!

Owen hanging out with Auntie Liz

Jackson found one of Papa's many "tractors"

Owen hanging out with Uncle Aaron

Dad aka Papa working hard

Uncles Aaron and Nathan hardly working :) They claim this is their better side! Personally I think the other side is less dangerous.

Vroom Vroom!!

My beautiful sister, my crazy husband and me. Aren't we adorable?

Owen got to take a ride with Auntie Liz and Uncle Nathan. He had a blast.

Jackson was glad when we finally got home.

Celebration time!!!!

Yes!!! I have finally finished the never-ending quilt!! I totally couldn't wait to get on here and announce it to the world. I'll take pictures after it's all washed and ready to but put on a bed and loved to death. Anyways, that's all. Love you all!!

~Melissa

Long time comin...

Happy Birthday Jackson!!

We had a birthday party for Jackson on the 13th and I've been meaning to get on here and post pictures from it, but life has been a little crazy, as always. His actual birthday was on the 21st and we made sure we did a little something, just the 4 of us, to celebrate it. Happy Birthday just happens to be one of his favorite songs and he's been singing it for about a month. I wish I had newborn, 1 year and 2 year pictures to post on here along with his birthday pictures, but they are all on CD and it's too late for me to have the willpower to go through all of them right now. If you really want to see some, check out my facebook. They make me cry. I can't believe my baby is already 3 years old. Seems like only yesterday I found out I was pregnant...sniff... anyways, enjoy the following overload of pictures. Love you all.

Fishing pole and hat from Grandpa

Have I told you Jackson loves broccoli? It's one of his favorite foods. Aunt Krissy, Uncle Jake, and Cousins Brayden and Kira gave him this adorable outfit, the following gun and spinners and an awesome little ball that you can see in the picture of him eating his pre-birthday cupcake below.

The gun has been used to "shoot" people and is now in permanant time out whereas the spinners are being used as great chew toys by both boys :)

The awesome pool we got him for his birthday and it didn't cost an arm and leg. Plus, both boys love it and have a ton of fun playing with it. Thank goodness we have a battery operated pump so I don't pass out from trying to blow it up.

Yummy pre-birthday cupcakes! PS Cupcakes are much easier to send with people than slices of cake and you can decorate them so cute! :)

Have a great month everyone!

I Know...

Yeah, I'm a slacker. Sorry all. I've been trying to avoid the computer in hopes of actually getting something done, but I'm not sure how succesful I've been. Whatever I manage to do quickly comes undone around here. Example, last night I cleaned and vacuumed before dinner so that it would be nice and clean when Jeff got home and before I went to my game night with the girls. Before breakfast this morning, it already looked like a hurracane had blown though our tiny living room. Our kitchen only stays clean from one meal to the next and I honestly don't feel like I have the time to clean it up every single time I make a meal. As soon as the boys are done eating it's time to play and I feel like a constant referee making sure no one is getting hurt or is hurting someone else. When I finally feel like I can breathe again, I'm starving and have to go and make myself something to eat as well before I faint of low blood sugar or something. While I'm eating, I've got 2 boys trying to take my drink, steal my food or just sit on my lap and poke at whatever I'm eating or me(Owen is facinated with 'beeping' noses and poking eyes while saying 'eye'). Naptime is the one and only time it is actually quiet around here and it's usually when I'm finally able to get some lunch(2 hours after the boys) and sit for a few minutes before the chaos starts up all over again. Also during naptime, I have to decide what I need to get done before my attention is once again demanded, like clean the living room (again), do as many dishes as I can, pull out one of my many sewing projects for a few unbothered minutes of peacful sewing, or do absolutly nothing. Today, I obviously chose do nothing. I ate my leftover meatloaf and am now devoting my time and attention to this blog. Lets just hope Jackson takes a longer nap than yesterdays which only lasted 20 minutes. Ugh.

The last couple weeks have been chaos on top of the usual chaos, and that is the other reason I haven't posted for a while. All of last week I was feverishly working on making some bean bag chairs so that we could play our new wii in comfort instead of the akwardness we've been playing in. I was hoping to be done by Thursday or Friday but quickly realised that wasn't going to happen when I had to undo and redo many of the seams I'd worked so hard to finish. The first chair ended up being more like a lovesak and was way too big for the small amount of space we have, so I had to rework the entire pattern and make it much smaller, but not too small. Jeff's butt needs to fit comfortably and have a bit of back support as well. Lining 1 is done, filled and currently the boys favorite toy. Lining 2, cover 1 and cover 2 are all in varying stages of doneness and hiding in my sewing closet, waiting for me to have the willpower to pull them back out and finish them. I hate putting unfinished projects away because I either forget about them or I move on to something new and never finish them. I can't tell you how many unfinished projects I have in the closet, but I know there are several. The boys hate it when I sew and that is part of the reason I don't do it as often as I'd like to. Jeff complains that I make a huge mess with thread, but really that's the boys getting into the ziplock bag I've pinned to the wall as my makeshift sewing garbage bag. He also complains that when I'm sewing I lose track of time, but that is only beause I want to get as close to being done as I can before my poor project is condemned to the closet once again. My house turns into a mess, my back aches, the boys(all 3) grouch and moan and complain and I feel like it's not worth it. Someday I will have a sewing room with a lock so I can leave things where they are and not have to put anything I'm working on away and I can shut the door so no body bothers anything and not have to worry about someone climbing on a chair and changing all the settings on my machine when my back is turned. Oh and not have to worry about little people crawling under the table and playing with the foot pedel when I'm trying to line something up before I start sewing. I'm lucky I still have all my fingers.

Anyways, I started this blog to keep in touch with friends and family, but it seems to have turned into my personal venting place with a few family updates thrown in and a few random pictures. I'll try to do better, but for now naptime is over and the babies are calling. Until next time, make sure your projects are easily finished and keep the kiddos away from the machines. Love you all!

~Melissa

My new diet...

is not a fad. For as long as I can remember, I've had cronic stomach aches and it wasn't unusal for me to have not only daily acid indigestion but severe stomach cramping, (sorry if tmi) diarrea after meals, most often dinner, and horrible clear-the-room gas. I've had several people suggest I try this or I try that or that that I might have this problem or that problem, but seeing as I currently do not have any heath insurance whatsoever, I have been unable to have any tests run to find out exactly what the problem is. I did try while I was at BYU-Idaho to have my problem diagonsed, but the doctors at the clinic were unhelpful and uninformitive.

A couple weeks ago I was able to attend Time Out for Women with a couple of my aunts, sisters and my mom. I got to ride there with one of my aunts who happens to be a nurse and she was telling me that she has had some of the same problems and she knows several of our family members also have issues along the same lines. She suggested, as other before her have, that I go on a dairy free diet for 2 weeks to see if that was possibly the problem and also try a daily antacid such as Prilosec, which you can now get otc. She also suggested that if that didn't work I should try a Gluten free diet to see if that was possibly the problem. 

Before I took her advice I did a ton of research about not only lactose intolerance, but acid ingestion, heartburn, IBS and a couple other digestive related issues and was surprised to find out they all pretty much go hand in hand. So that convinced me that I needed to do something. I was sick of living in near constant pain from the acid and avoiding not only foods but certain smells that were bound to make my stomach churn and hurt even more.

I decided to first try the diary free diet, which sounded much easier than going gluten free. In order to do so, I had to make sure that anything I would normally eat was free of any dairy products or by products. I am amazed at how much I ate that had dairy in it and ended up buying some interesting things, some good, others not so much. I immediatly noticed a huge difference in how I felt. For the first time in I don't know how long, I spent the entire day without a stomach ache of any kind. It was amazing and I felt so good I think I might have cried.

I am one of those people who could drink an entire gallon of milk in a day if I didn't have any self control. I love milk and cheese and sour cream and butter and cream cheese and all other dairy things. They are like heaven to my tastebuds and realising that eating them was making me sick broke my heart but at the same time I was a little relieved. I now know what a big part of my problem is, but sticking to a strict dairy free diet isn't going to be easy for me.

I admit I have cheated a couple times and have been sharply chastised for my weakness by my intensly angry digestive tract. I've found a soy milk that is palateable and that I actually like as well as a cream cheese that works for what I need. Finding something to replace the large amounts of cheese, butter and sour cream I would normally consume has been a bit of a trial, but I know it's out there. I just have to find it.

Oh and on the worst day last week, the boys had been driving me insane all day and I was feeling really down and really craving some serious chocolate, I had a complete meltdown after I'd sent Jeff to the store for groceries. Who'd have thought that not being able to have chocolate would create hysterics in my kitchen? Well there I was trying to get dinner on and compose myself, when Jeff came home and promply presented me with a pint of SoyDream Turtle Icecream, completely dairy free and full of caramel and chocolate. Needless to say, I started bawling again. I hadn't told him that I was having such a rough day, so he had no idea what I was feeling and was baffled as to why I was bawling all over him about ice cream. When I explained, he said he'd had a really strong feeling that he needed to get it for me. I am so glad he did because it was just what I needed and it helped me to realise not only is my dear sweet annoying husband looking out for me, so is my Heavenly Father. He knows and understands how hard this is for me and inspired my husband to provide me with the love and support I was needing so bad.

Ever since then I have been looking even harder for suitable subsitutes for my favorite foods and have found a wide source of information on the web. I ordered myself a dairy free cookbook and and anxiously awaiting its arrival so I can start cooking up delicious dairy free things for my family. Jeff's not too keen on going completely dairy free, so I've told him he's welcome to continue eating and drinking anything he wants, but whatever I make from now on will be dairy free so that I don't get sick. I refuse to make seperate meals for everyone. I think that is just ridiculous. The only time I did was when the boys were too little to eat whatever we were having.

We will keep regular milk, butter, sour cream ect on hand for him and the boys and I will continue to search for alternitives that we can all be happy with so that we can eat as a family. I'm hoping it is only going to get easier and I'm trying to be optomistic, but for now I'm just trying to make it day to day. Man I'm sick of tuna fish sandwiches, but I'm sure I'll get better at making a nutritious lunch for myself that won't make me sick. Until next time, stay heathy, stay optomisitc, and enjoy your icecream and chocolate!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is the 4th anniversary of the day Jeff and I were sealed for time and all eternity. So much has happened in these last 4 years, but it still seems as if time has just flown by. I love that man more now than I did when we were just newlyweds and it seems with every day my love grows stronger. Well, I guess on the days when he drives me insane that love stands still for a bit. He drives me crazy and annoys the heck out of me, but I still can't get enough of that rarely-clean-shaven-face and those beautiful blue eyes. We aren't doing anything special today just because Jeff won't be home until almost 8pm tonight, but hopefully we'll do something this weekend. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Oh Montana...

I do love you. I love you so much, I decided I needed to live on Montana Street in Washington State. But, I have decided that never again will I try to visit your beauty without my dear husband. Don't get me wrong, thing went much better than planned until the day came for us to go home. Montana didn't want us to leave and I got really sick and spent a day and a half feeling like I was going to die. It wouldn't have been so bad except Mom and Racheal got deathly sick as well and there was no one to take care of us or watch the boys for most of the day. It was awful and just about the worst sickness I've ever had. Thankfully, I was recovered enough after 3 days I was just able to make it home, but I pushed myself too hard on the way home and relapsed the next day. Over a week later and I am still feeling the effects of it, but that could be partly due to the weekend I just had. I had the opportunity to go to Time Out For Women in Spokane with a couple of my aunts, sisters and mom. It was wonderful, but I am completely exhausted. I know this is short, but I don't have the energy or willpower to write anymore, so I'll leave you with these delightful pictures of our time in Montana. Love you all and I hope you are doing well!

What I woke up to at 6am the morning we left. Maybe this should have been my sign to stay home, but all things considered I'm really glad we did go.

He's getting to be such a big boy! No, he can't actually work the tractor on his own yet, he had help getting up there.

Cake time! Liz's birthday was on Friday the 16th, but we didn't get to celebrate it until Sunday night because of Stake Conference. Morgan, Justin's wife, made her an ice cream cake that was really yummy :)

My Daddy

Uncle Aaron, fresh off his mission! He left for his first semester at BYU-Idaho on Monday the 19th and was as sick as we were on the first day of classes. Fun stuff.

Guess what! No, I'm not finished yet, but I am one step closer! I have a half a monkey left and Jackson's name and then I'm completely done. I just have to find the bag with my thread in it...

They loved this! Owen would climb in there by himself and Jackson would pull him around.

This is what Jackson did while I was bringing myself back from the dead. He made a friend and kept himself out of too much trouble. I was so proud of him for being so good while I wasn't feeling so hot.

So much for getting things washed, folded and packed nicely. Of course my human tornado would find it and make short work of it. I love my baby.