matthew.katie.jayden.jolie...

Labor Day

2011-09-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

I took the kids and went up to Snowflake for the Labor Day weekend. It was great to get out of the heat, but it was too crowded up there. One day while we were up there we went and rode the ski lift and Sunrise. I want to tell you a little story about my family.
I love crocs for my kids. I think they are ugly, but super convenient in the shoe department. My dad had watched Jayden and Jolie for me for a few a little while one day while my mom and I went to Zumba. He told me after how much he hated her pink crocs. He said they were the worst shoes ever and that they kept falling off. Well really it is her usually kicking them off. She hates to wear shoes. Every time I get in the car she is kicking her shoes off. Annoying!
So while we were riding the ski lift my dad was holding Jolie and she fell asleep and she kicked her shoe off. So my mom yells back at us on the ski lift and tell us they lost one of Jolie's shoes. Well I am instantly kicking myself because I had a thought before hand to just take her shoes off, and I didn't. I learned my lesson. I was annoyed we lost the shoe, but I didn't want to walk back up or down looking for it so in my mind it was gone. Big deal, I'll buy her another pair at Nordstrom Rack(best place for crocs). Well on the way back down we were looking for her shoe, but we never did see it. We did however see a girl totally eat it on her mountain bike and it was pretty sad. I had said that I wanted to see someone wreck, but never did I want to see someone get hurt. Her stellar boyfriend probably broke up with her after that because she couldn't hack it. Anyway, off track. Well we get to the bottom and my parents tell us they are going to go back up and look for the shoe. Well I thought whatever, they aren't going to find it so we (James, Becky, Jolie, and I) stay at the bottom. Then it begins to rain and we wait and wait. Sure enough, my mom comes back down on the lift, without my Dad. They saw the shoe, and he is now walking down the mountain to retrieve it. I feel so bad at this point because it was those blasted shoes that he hated, that now he is really going to hate. Then it begins to rain harder and harder and I finally see my Dad coming down the mountain, with a pink shoe. Bless his sweet heart he was soaked. He is such a sweet man. I love him so much. I told him he didn't have to do that, but he said oh yes he did, my mom made him. I love my mom too. They are just such amazing parents and grandparents. It was a great morning. If you ever have the chance to ride the ski lift in the summer, do it, just don't wear crocs.

Oh Boy, I Got Joy

2011-08-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

This little boy started Joy School today. We are all pretty excited about it. I am always worried he isn't going to behave, or will be behind, but so far so good. His primary teacher told me last week that he is probably the best one so I think he'll be fine, but I forget that sometimes and I get worried that he is going to be too goofy. He's a sweettheart I tell you.

Still Hot

2011-08-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

I have been pretty proud of myself this summer. I really wanted to change my attitude about the heat and enjoy summer instead of hating it. We took advantage of having a pool at our constant disposal. It's sad but my kids don't really get excited to get to go to the pool anymore. This week though has been especially hot. I hate even having to put my kids in the car(all black) when as soon as I sit them in their seats they tell me how hot it is, or worse, start screaming about it. Today I did my VT and when I put Jolie in her seat she proceeded to scream for 5 minutes. I feel so bad, but what can I do. I just need a garage.

Last year when we moved into our apartment I had the mindset that it would only be for a year. I could do it. Since we found out that we will be staying we've been searching and searching for a house but our search has come up empty. So we are staying here. I have mixed feelings about this decision. I know it is the right decision for us at this time, but it's hard. I have been so ready to have a back yard, a garage, space for my kids to play and run around. I am trying to remember the positive things about living in our apartment like we feel safe, it's clean, no maintenance, pool, but then things like climbing up the stairs 5 times to unload my groceries hit me and I feel defeated. We are trying to make adjustments and hopefully will be able to get a bottom floor apartment. I know people have endured worse so I'll try to keep that in mind. Did I mention it was like 105 at 9:00 today. Oh boy. Send prayers our way for rain.

She's Two

2011-08-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

Our sweet girl woke up the morning of her birthday and I think she had the theme song playing in her head of "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to." It was her birthday and I think she could tell. My goal was to make her feel extra extra special for her special day. She had a breakfast of crepes, lunch of hot dogs, and dinner of homemade pizza, then cake, all of which are her favorites(maybe not the hot dog but I was in the middle of cleaning out my closet). Can I just say that I love simple birthdays! I enjoy them so much more. I tend to focus more on my child(which is where the focus should be) and less on "Oh I hope everyone has a good time, or is impressed by the food, or think she looks cute." My parents had it where on the even birthdays we would have our own family thing, then if we wanted a party it was on the odd birthdays. I think I might be leaning towards that as well. As fun as it is to look at pictures and pictures of amazing parties, I don't know if my kids get enough out of them with the amount of work that goes into them. That's just me though. To each his own. I sure do love this girl. I can't believe she is already two.

This Girl

2011-08-16T14:45:00.001-07:00

This sweet little girl turns two tomorrow. I can't believe it, I really can't. She has changed so much from a year ago, but I can even see huge changes in her from just the past month. She is talking way more, and she has quite the attitude. She has the pouty lip thing going on and Matt just can't seem to discipline her when she uses it.

She is so special to us. Jayden loves her, we love her, and she is so loving to us as well. Jolie has always been a dream baby. She slept through the night so young(maybe 4 weeks), goes to bed so well, throws only the occasional fit, is a great eater and will try most any food. I love hearing her start to sing and see her excitement about girly things. She's a tough cookie though too. We love our Jolie Kate and can't wait to celebrate her being Two.

me, a to z

2011-08-10T10:22:00.000-07:00

This is my blog, but rarely do I talk about me. I think as a mom and a wife, we can get so caught up in everything and everyone around us and we forget about ourselves. No I don't think it's bad, but I am going to take a little time and talk about me.

a. age : 27(I still feel like I'm 19 though.)

b. bed size : queen

c. chore I hate : grocery shopping, it never ends

d. dogs : none, Matt and I had a dog Ella during our first year of marriage. I'll make a long story short and just give this one piece of information, we have never fought so much as we did when we had this dog. I am pro dogs though, no matter what my family really thinks.

e. essential start to your day : a coke.

f. favorite color : as of right now this very minute, gray & yellow

g. gift giving or receiving : giving

h. height : five feet nine inches

i. instrument : some piano, some clarinet, love to sing

j. job title: mama, babe, aunt Katie

k. kids: Jayden Monroe, Jolie Kate

l. live: Glendale, AZ(but I will always say I'm from Snowflake)

m. maiden name : Brimhall

n. nicknames: Only nickname I had was from a softball coach, Katydid

o. overnight hospital stays : twice with my babies.

p. pet peeve : chewing gum, being late

q. quote : "You can't control how you are going to be perceived, you only have control at how you are going to present yourself."(something like that)

r. right or lefty : right

s. siblings : Leslie Coy, Darrell Monroe, John Howard, James Martin, Jeanie Pearl

t. time you wake up : Between 6 and 6:30. You don't sleep in if you come from my parents.

u. university attended : this is a little embarrassing but oh well, NPC, Dixie State, and MCC.

v. vegetable you dislike : raw onion

w. what makes you run late : my adoring husband, or Jayden not being able to find his shoes.

x. x-rays you've had : teeth @ dentist, then chest x-ray(I supposedly had asthma, or so they said)

y. yummy food : fettuccine alfredo(Kitchen Boss style), chips & salsa(Don Ruben's) pizza(Spinatos or mine)

z. zoo animal favorite : elephant, orangutan

So this is me. I'm pretty excited for today. It's my parents anniversary and I get to celebrate my best friends birthday a day early with dinner. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!! Here's to 33 more.

First Day of School

2011-08-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

Here is our big medical student on his first day of medical school. You can't even imagine how long we've waited, and how long we've worked for this day to finally be here. I know he's pretty excited, and a little nervous for the fire hydrant of information that is going to be coming his way. I know he will do great. I know it's going to be pretty difficult, but I have all the faith in the world in him. It's one of the reasons I picked him for me you know. More to come on that later.

Over 1900 Miles Traveled

2011-07-06T16:35:00.000-07:00

That is how far we traveled in the last two weeks. Immediately after Lake Powell, we headed up into Utah, then Idaho for the Waite Reunion. Matt and I got to go river rafting which was great. I secretly, okay maybe not to secretly think we could have handled something a little harder, but it was good to get our feet wet. We went into Yellowstone a few of the days and it's all of Eric's(BIL) fault that we didn't see a bear. I told him my trip would be ruined if I didn't get to see one. I was pretty sad. While we were driving around I kept thinking to myself, "If I were a bear, where would I be?" Apparantly not anywhere people could see me I guess.
It was fun to see all of our Waite cousins. Can you believe there were 6, two year olds there(counting Jolie who is almost two). That's a lot of carseats. As we were driving around and admiring how green it was, the wild flowers everywhere, the rivers and streams that were so pretty, I kept trying to tell myself how bad it must be here in the winter. "Oh Katie you don't want to live here. They have horrible winters. They can't even leave their homes it's so bad. They have to stay inside for five months." Don't tell me if this is not the case. I don't want to know. So if you haven't been to Yellowstone, go. It's incredible.

Could We Have Had Any More Fun?

2011-07-06T16:17:00.000-07:00

The answer is probably, but that would have meant our kids would have liked the water. One of the things that I find the most interesting/frustrating about raising kids is that you really can't MAKE them do something if they don't want to, right. I remember when I was little and my mom would fight with John about eating fruit(he hates fruit). It would go on forever, and I remember thinking why doesn't he just do it. Why can't she just make him do it. Or with me and wearing dresses to school. My mom every now and again would make up this rule that I had to wear one dress a week to school. I'm still not quite sure what her reasoning was(I'm sure she had one) but I hated it. It would be the longest drawn out process, and yet, she could punish me, threaten me, but I was still not going to wear a dress to school. It would have been the end of the world or something. Now as a parent, I get to have those same fights or trials I guess you could call them. Last year Jayden loved the water, you couldn't really get him out. This year, nope, he wasn't having it. I think having immediate access to a pool may have spoiled him a bit. The Lake Powell water isn't clear, it's cold(colder than our pool), and for an OCD kid who doesn't like to be dirty, the sand is tortuous. Then for Jolie, she turned on us as well. Our "happy go lucky" girl was more of a "crabby hold me all the time because this environment is different and so therefore I'm going to be difficult" kind of girl. Oh don't you worry your pretty little heads though, Matt and I still had a great time. I mean when you are getting a tan how can you not be happy!?! Of course we had a great time with our family and we had the BEST spot this year and the water was so high. It was seriously amazing. Not five minutes after pulling our boat out of the spot, someone else took it like bam. Oh how we love the lake. Until next year.

3 Down, 1 To Go

2011-06-07T15:52:00.000-07:00

Last week Matt graduated with his Masters at Midwestern University which brings his degree count to a whopping 3. That's a lot of money you know. It was a quick program, and we are all so proud of him. I think he looks super sexy in his robe. His Dad was able to hood him since he has a doctorate degree. We are looking at a future Dr. in the making. Jayden was so tired and did not want to take pictures, he just wanted me to hold his hand, plus he was upset that he had to stop drawing for two seconds. Oh that kid and drawing. Jolie is pretty dang cute if you ask me.
Good Job Babe! We all love you so much!

Jeanie Pearl, Baby Girl

2011-05-30T08:47:00.001-07:00

Snowflake High School will sadly not get to educate(hahaha) anymore students from the Gary & Sarah Brimhall children. The last, Jeanie Pearl Brimhall graduated and we are so proud of her. Jeanie is the baby baby of our family. I was in third grade and I still remember Lashelle Schneider asking me if my mom was pregnant. I said no because James was the baby, and there was no way my mom was pregnant with another baby. Well a while later, it was a Sunday afternoon and my Dad was saying the prayer for dinner. He was blessing the food etc. then he said, "And please bless mom, while she is pregnant that she won't be so sick(something like that)." So she was pregnant and we were getting a new baby. I was so excited. Then came the day when my mom went to the hospital to have the baby, then she came home without a baby. I remember being so mad at her. I mean didn't she know I was ready for that baby to come out. Well eventually Jeanie Pearl was born and we evened out the numbers to 3 boys and 3 girls. We all adored Jeanie. I remember this one thing we did with her particularly well. We had this smaller chair and we would put her in it. Then we would gather all of our jewels(dress up jewelry), money, etc and we throw it at her feet and chant and bow,"We praise, thy name, to Jeanie Pearl Brimhall." Kind of sacrilegious probably, but we just loved her so much. Jeanie is everything I wished I was more of. She is confidant, smart, independent, brave, adventurous, and so much more. I am so proud of the woman she has become. I am always so proud to call her my sister. I am especially excited because she will be attending ASU West in the fall, on scholarship mind you. ASU West just happens to be about 4 miles from where we live. No I am not going to smother her, but I am excited that she will be close by. Congrats Jeanie. We are all so proud of our sweet Jeanie Pearl, Baby Girl.

AT LAST!!!

2011-05-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

"AT LAST" is the title of my favorite Etta James song. Well we can now say, AT LAST, Matt got into Medical School. We heard last Monday that he has been accepted to Midwestern, here in Glendale, and we couldn't be more happy. It's been such a long hard road getting here, but I knew we could do it all along. Matt has worked so incredibly hard and finally no longer will he have to say that he is pre med. We are so grateful that it happened when it did. I feel like Matt has learned so much doing his Masters that will only help him for the next four years. There were times when we were both so frustrated and discouraged, but he kept on going. He's amazing, he's amazing, he's amazing. I can't say it enough. We were willing to go anywhere for school, but lucky enough are we to get to stay here in Arizona. Oh how I love Arizona. I love it over here in Glendale too. Matt also has been put on the wait list at A.T. Still University in Mesa as well. He loves Midwestern though so it all worked out great. During the whole process I kept asking myself what does Heavenly Father want to teach us, or want us to learn in all of this. Well I can say that I have learned to trust in Heavenly Father, and know that he does hear our prayers and knows the desires of our heart. I have also learned patience, and to put my faith in him. I came to a conclusion a few months ago that even if we didn't get in to Midwestern and we ended up in the Caribbean, that everything would still be okay. He knows what is best for us. I am so grateful for the wonderful family that we have. They have helped us out so much, and I'm so happy to be getting to stay close to home. We really are so blessed. So here's to us. Oh it feels good.

So Proud

2011-05-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

My sweet older brother Darrell graduated this past week from...Medical School. It was a great experience being able to attend his graduation and see the look on his face now that he's done(minus residency of course). I remember sitting at his white coat ceremony 4+ years ago and I remember thinking how long 4 years seemed. Now that it's here, it feels like such a short time. Darrell went to U of A, Phoenix Campus. He was apart of the first class and we are all so proud of him. Ever since I was a little girl he always said he was going to be a doctor, and now he is. I am so lucky and grateful to have him for my brother. He is so sweet to Matt and myself and he has done so much for us. Darrell has been so supportive of us and our efforts to attend medical school. At one point we even lived with them when we both lost our jobs so Matt could stay in school.

After the graduation we went and celebrated. We were probably a little too rowdy, but how often does someone graduate from Medical School. For the past eight or so months I have been switching off babysitting Darrell and Kendra's kids while she has been working and I have been so grateful for that. I really do love their kids, almost as they were my own. I caught myself a few times looking at them and wondering if they had any idea the hard work their dad, and mom had gone thru to be there that night, celebrating. It made me ache, long, excited for what the future holds for Matt and I. I only hope that in 4+ years it will be us celebrating with family.

Zumba, Mothers Day, THE FIT SHE THREW

2011-05-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day, I went and spent it with my mother. Matt had to study so up Jayden, Jolie and I went. There was a Zumba thing going on Saturday so Becky(James' wife), Jeanie, My Mom, and myself went and danced our buns off in the bright sun for a few hours. I had a lot of fun shaking my tail feather and getting a pretty NOT awesome tan line. I always want to do something special for my mom because she has been the greatest mom to me, but she is a horrible gift receiver. I still love you though Mom. I wanted to get her something nice for her house, but it's her house and if she wants something, then she'll pick it out, in her style. So Jeanie and I decided to give her a work day. Perfect Right. My parents have a train car that they've been using for storage and over the last few years it just became disorganized and messy. So we cleaned out the train car and I my mom said it was the best gift we could have given her. I miss those kind of days. I live in an apartment and it's rare that I get to get outside and really get dirty and sweaty and gross. I love that feeling though, like I've accomplished so much. It was a great day.

So Sunday comes along, and we made crepes for breakfast for my mom. Punks Jayden and Jolie didn't do anything for me. It's like they didn't know or something(can you tell I am being sarcastic). Then we get to church and my child(Jolie Kate) is horrible. Now Jolie has been such a good baby, child, toddler etc. No she isn't perfect, but I can usually get her to be well behaved. Well this particular Sunday she was not having it. She was horrible the 1st hour, annoying the second, then Satan the third. I sat in primary with her in my moms class and the little boy gets up to give his scripture and he has trouble finding it so there is a huge moment of silence. Jolie starts yelling "GO, GO, GO!" So I take her out and let her roam the halls. Too much freedom for the little chick and she just kept throwing herself on the ground, making me look like I had no idea what to do with a kid. I finally had enough and decided to just sit in the car with her. So I take her out to my parents car, and start to strap her in her seat(she was already throwing a fit when we got there). As soon as I begin to put her in, she does the annoying arch back thing, so I am basically pinning her down so I can buckle her in. Once I get her in she starts smacking her face with her hands, pulling out her hair(literally), like ripping her mouth with her hands, kicking, and then she looks at me in the eyes as she's yelling and screaming and says, "MOMMA, MOMMA, MOMMA!!!" I just sat there in shock. Never has she once acted like this. She did this for the next 5 minutes. She quickly wore herself out and fell asleep and did the whimper in her sleep until we were home. Seriously, what happened to my child? What possessed her? Let me tell you it was not the Mother's Day present I was looking for. So I figured Mother's Day is really for when you are older . That's when you can really enjoy it. When your kids are grown and they treat you so well, and they appreciate all the things you did/do for them. So I guess I will just have to wait a few years before I get to really feel special and loved on Mothers Day.
P.S. When Jayden got in the car and I told him the story of how horrible Jolie was he just kept laughing and laughing. Then I asked him to give me a kiss, and he said, "Wait Mom, Give me a kiss on the lips." It was pretty sweet so I guess I had a good day after all.

Still In LOVE

2011-05-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have those days when you can't imagine being any happier? Well I experienced quite a few of those days this last weekend. Our amazing Jayden Monroe turned 4 years old on Sunday. He was due April 25th, but didn't come until May 1st. At the time I was so annoyed that he would be a May baby and that I had to wait, but he was well worth the wait. May 1st is such a special day for me. Not only is it Jayden's birthday, but it is the day I became a mother. It is the day I realized how much love a parent has for their children. It is the day that I realized how much my mom went thru in order to bring all of her kids into the world. It is the day that I really realized how strong of a woman I can be. I was amazed by my own strength and it was the most empowering experience I have ever had in my life.
Jayden has truly been such a joy. He has such a special spirit and I am so lucky to be his mom. Jayden is so kind and thoughtful. He is also very protective of me and also to others he cares about. He is not your average rambunctious boy. He is gentle and soft, quiet and loud, funny and creative, and he is a perfect combination of both of our families. I have a special place in my heart for all of my brothers, each for a different reason. Jayden reminds me so much of my youngest brother James. I remember James being such a sweet and soft hearted boy(still is). James had these dark huge eyes when he was little and Jayden has those same eyes, just blue. He is so special to me and to so many others.
Jayden has a bit of an obsessive personality I guess you could say. He has a passion for Star Wars and Superheros and that is what his birthday was all about. He finally decided on a Star Wars cake. I really wanted it to be great and had marvelous plans for it. Well he wanted to help so badly and at first I wasn't wanting him to help because I wanted it to be perfect. Well I quickly realized that it was Jayden's birthday and if helping make his cake was what he wanted, than that was all that really mattered. He is very detailed oriented like Matt and it's so fun to watch him when he gets creative. It was a great weekend. These past four years have blown by and I am so excited that I get to watch him grow.

Easter Sunday w/ Jolie Kate

2011-04-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here is my sweet Jolie Kate. Oh how I adore this girl. She is still connected to my hip when we are out in public, but she is growing up that is for sure. Just yesterday she had climbed up onto our kitchen chair, then onto the table. She is 20 months old so you may be saying well that's about time, but that's our Jolie Kate. She is a petite little thing, but we sure get a kick out of her. She can be super independent when she wants to be. She is starting to talk more and more. Jayden is constantly telling her how cute she is and that she's a funny baby. I'm afraid she isn't a baby anymore. BOO!!! She has been going to nursery, but is having a pretty hard time with the adjustment. I think she is so big, then when I put her in there with other kids her age she still seems like such a baby. Hopefully she'll get adjusted soon enough. Her poor leaders are probably getting worn out. I am so thankful for this sweet girl. She has been everything I ever dreamed of, and so much more.

Playgroup Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

For church I am in charge of planning the playgroups. We had a simple Easter Egg Hunt a few weeks back and it went pretty well. I always stress out about things and can't sit still during them but I guess that's just me. Jayden and Jolie both had a really good time. Eggs, Candy, Bubbles, and Popcorn, what more could little kids want. There were only three rules, no kicking, no pushing, and no CRYING!!!

Getting Up There

2011-04-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

Last week our sweet Matt turned the big 28. We have all been so busy that it was pretty low key. We will have more celebrating to come. His parents came over from Tucson and spent the weekend with us. It was nice to have them here in our little apartment. We are so grateful for Matt. He does so much for us and he is constantly working at getting into med school. The stress he is under I can't even comprehend. We are so proud of him though. He is doing so well in his Masters program and hopefully we will hear by the middle of June what the next phase is. I always want to make him some amazing cake for his birthday but all he ever wants is that silly Confetti Cake with the Rainbow Chip frosting. We have really high standards in our family. We love you Matt!

Jayden Boy, Artist Man

2011-04-06T11:13:00.000-07:00

This is Jayden Monroe Waite.
He has become quite the artist in the last few months. The first picture is obviously Spiderman. Can't you tell?! Here is a picture he recently drew depicting this character. I have no idea who it is. Look at the detail. He has drawn the six pack and the other details on his face. He will be four next month and he is getting better and better each week.

He is pretty interesting as well. He wanted to take his shirt off to be Peter Pan and I wouldn't let him until he had picked up his room. He picked up his room and was so excited to change his clothes. This is how he came out. He wrapped this black piece of material I have around him and then he used his Spiderman material for his belt(he loves belts, he says they make him skinny). This pose he did all on his own. He seriously cracks me up. Some days I worry if he is a little too weird, if you know what I mean. But who can blame him with me as his parent.

Air Show

2011-04-06T10:55:00.001-07:00

We decided on a whim to go the Air Show that was at Luke Air Force Base a few weeks ago. It was quite the wait in line and once we got in Jayden and Jolie were ready to leave. I thought Jayden would be more into the planes, but I think because it was so hot, and it took so long to get in that he was just too tired to care. We did enjoy ourselves though. I don't mind waiting in line as long as there are interesting people to stare at. Rude I know.

Jayden was more into his M&M's than the planes.

Encanto Park-

2011-03-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

We are enjoying our time with Matt while he has a little break from school. These are at Encanto Park in Phoenix. It wasn't quite what we thought it would be, but we still had a lot of fun. Sadly I think my kids take after Matt when it comes to rides. They were both hesitant and scared. I will just have to break them in.
P.S. How big is my Jolie Kate getting?!?

L O V E part 2

2011-02-14T16:05:00.000-08:00

It was a good day around here. I just got a little delivery. I automatically thought it was from Matt which was going to irritate me because we had a prior agreement. Well this little something something was from the first man in my life, my wonderful Dad. What a fabulous surprise it was. I really love this day.

L O V E part 1

2011-02-14T15:52:00.000-08:00

Our two kids woke up to Daddy's Valentine's this morning. Jayden had a huge smile on his face when he realized it was him and Jolie, she liked it for about 10 seconds. What a sweet daddy my kids have. Happy Valentine's Day!!!

STAR WARS

2011-02-08T07:28:00.001-08:00

It has happened. Star Wars has invaded our house. Jayden loves Star Wars. Don't get me wrong, he is still into Batman and Spiderman, but who knew his obsessions could have room for one more. Years ago we bought the Monopoly Star Wars edition. Well Jayden saw it in the closet one day and has since spent several hours with the game. No not playing Monopoly, playing with the pieces, looking at the pictures, acting out scenes. His attention span truly amazes me. I don't know if it's because I am ADD or what but that kid is amazing. When Matt went to pick Jayden up from Sunbeams on Sunday his teachers told him that he had made all the adults laugh in primary by humming the Star Wars theme. Yesterday while at Goodwill he found a Darth Vadar mask and I couldn't resist. I never thought I would have a Star Wars obsessor(sic) but I have one now. I hadn't even seen all the movies until this boy. Who knew they were so good.

27 SAY WHAT?!?

2011-02-08T07:07:00.001-08:00

So I turned 27 on the 29th. I share a birthday as you may know with Oprah and Tom Selek, and my second mom the lovely Diane Scott. I'll admit this past year has been amazing, but pretty dang hard. Matt is gone on pretty much a constant basis which I completely understand but still wasn't completely prepared for. This leaves me with the brunt of the child raising, which was expected, but it's just hard. The thing I miss most is the weekends. I miss just spending a whole Saturday with Matt, not having to share him with his upcoming test or paper that's due or watching the clock to see when he will be home. I miss going to places with him whether it be Sam's club or even Walmart(he hates Walmart). C'est la vi. It is all paying off though. Matt is doing really well in school, I mean really well. Lately he has been trying to find a human skull to buy so he can study the bones better. I mean really, that's dedication. Enough of that.

I had a good birthday. My friend Candice was so sweet and watched our kids so we could go out to dinner and do a little Nordstrom Rack shopping. Then a week later my friends and old roommates took me out to lunch at the Grand Lux. We had the worst waiter but we had a great time. Erica brought pictures from when we were roommates and so that was fun. Some of you may remember but when we were roommates I was quite over weight. Looking through the pictures was a reminder of what I used to look like. Years ago I had thrown out all my fat pictures because that was a different time in my life and I didn't like what I looked like. Seeing them again was a reminder of the accomplishments I have made. So it was a good experience looking back. I have since thought a lot about those pictures and have made peace with them. I may have not liked what I looked like back then, but I sure had a lot of fun. Thanks Erica, I needed that.

So here's to another year. I know it's going to be really hard, but I am so excited for what lies ahead and for getting a tan. HAHAHAHA

Mr. & Mrs. Brimhall 12-30-10

2011-01-05T14:55:00.000-08:00

Wow what a week. The weather was crazy. The day before the wedding John got sick with the flu, Jeanie got it around
4:00, and then it hit Jayden @ 11pm, me at 12:30am, and Jolie @ 2am. It was the worst night of ours lives(Matt and I). Luckily my mom had put us all up in hotel rooms so at least our viruses were contained. The flu with little kids is the worst. They give you no warning of when they are going to blow. We had a blizzard come in that night and so there was tons of snow, and below freezing temperatures. At least all of our company that we were expecting made it up safely. So congrats to James and Becky. We're so happy to welcome her in to our family. The reception was fun even though I was still feeling under the weather. Boy howdy do I really need a tan, or my hair color is too dark. I can't decide. Maybe it's a little of both. Well Happy New Year everyone. I am doing a few goals and I have a few bucket list items that I want to cross off of my list this year.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-05T14:39:00.001-08:00

We made it. We had a wonderful Christmas in Snowflake in the freezing cold. It didn't snow on Christmas but we had tons a few days later. I tried to keep things simple this year with things I thought my kids were really going to enjoy. I still don't know if I succeeded(Jolie was not in love with the homemade doll I made her) and Jayden hasn't been too excited about the loads of legos he got, but they still really enjoyed Christmas. We spent the day playing Just Dance 2 that we got my parents and Jeanie. It was a great day. My dad made the best prime rib that I have EVER had and we didn't have to go anywhere. It was great.

Fondant Try #2

2010-11-29T10:40:00.001-08:00

If I could go back to school and get a degree, one of them would be a culinary degree in pastries or cake decorating. I've took some cake decorating classes but I hadn't done any fondant. I made a cake for John's birthday and I covered the cake in fondant. It was a disaster. It was so ugly and thick that I didn't even want to take a picture of it. It was horrible. This was my second try. John had a little get together on Saturday in Phoenix and so I made a re due cake. Matt helped roll the fondant out and it went a lot better. We'll keep practicing and hopefully we'll get better.

Thanksgiving with Family

2010-11-29T10:17:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving this year was spent in Sahaurita with The Waite Family. We had a really good time playing with Ryan and Amanda and their kids. We hadn't seen them since January '09 which was before they had their twins and we had our Jolie Kate. Thanksgiving was delicious. Amanda and I went to a couple of places for Black Friday. I got what I wanted and was happy with that. My shopping for Jayden is completely done and I'm pretty proud of myself for that. Oh and I got to go to the Country Fair White Elephant in Green Valley. It's a thrift store and it's all run by volunteers. The proceeds at the end of the year go to different charities. I unfortunately only had $2 in cash on me and they didn't take debit so I was very limited in my shopping but I still got some killer scrapbook paper, a picture frame, and some SpiderMan material for Jayden for Christmas. Total $1.90. I did pretty good. Now we're back to our regular schedules. It was good to get a break from school.

Sprinkles Visit

2010-11-29T10:03:00.001-08:00

During Matt's school break we took some time to treat ourselves so we headed to Sprinkles. I've been wanting to go since they opened in Scottsdale and we finally got the chance. I was a happy girl. We ended up getting one cupcake for free because they gave us the wrong cupcake. Their bad, lucky me. I have had red velvet before but I didn't really get why people are obsessed. After Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese frosting I understood. It was delicious. Amazing. I wanted to eat five of them. So good. Jolie loved it, Jayden just ate the frosting the little toot, and Matt liked it. So good. I can't wait to go back.

I Highly Recommend It

2010-11-01T11:29:00.001-07:00

When we figured out where we would be moving I knew we could only bring one of our couches. Well Matt wanted to buy a new one, but I knew that it wasn't necessarily the wisest thing to do. We hated our couches. With kids they have drool marks and they are just a pain to clean. So I went in search of a slipcover. My mom had a magazine and a coupon with it so I researched them out and decided on this brand. Surefit slipcovers. I went with a White Twill which I was excited for because it was white, and I really wanted something light. So we bought just the one for our sofa since that is the one we would be taking with us to Glendale.
Fast forward two plus months later to when a naughty mommy lost track of her time reading her google reader(it's the best and worst thing. I loose track of time way too easily). She went to go check on her 1 year old daughter who had gotten chocolate raisins that were left out. She had made a huge mess on the couch and I knew it was my fault but it still got me mad. No worries. Take off the slipcover and throw that beast in the washer. 2 hours or so later and it's as good as new. Here are the before and after pictures.
BEFORE

AFTER

I have told so many people about these that Surefit should give me a free slipcover just for all the business I've thrown their way. HINT HINT. I love my slipcovers so I thought I'd pass on the word. Got a sofa you just can't stand the look of anymore but don't have an extra $1000 to throw away... Buy a slipcover from surefit. It really has been the best $100 I think I've ever spent.

Pink is Perfect

2010-11-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

Like I said for Halloween I was Pinkalicious. Well if you're like everybody at our party, you don't know who that is. It's a children's book that my niece Emma introduced to us. She was obsessed with it. So I decided Jolie and I would be that. I got a pink wig and the kids loved trying it on. Doesn't Jayden make the cutest girl?!? We couldn't get Jolie Kate to try it on and Sarah wasn't so fond of it either.

Batman & Pinkalicious

2010-11-01T10:52:00.001-07:00

What does two pinkalicious and two batman costumes give you...A sore throat, a canker sore in the mouth, and exhaustion and that's just from me. Halloween is over and to be honest I'm pretty glad about that. You see Halloween lasted for us about a month and a half. Oh that's wonderful you say. Not so much when you have a 3 year old that wants to wear his costume everyday. Oh that's no big deal you say. Well try putting that costume on about 20 times a day, no exaggeration. How do you then explain to a 3 year old that Halloween is over?
I really do love Halloween. All the preparation is so fun and watching your kids get excited is the absolute best. Jayden has wanted to be Batman and so his wish was granted. I had this grand plan of Jayden being Peter Pan, Jolie being Tinkerbelle, Me being Tiger Lily, and Matt being Captain Hook, but Jayden's desire to be the ultimate super hero we know as Batman won in the end. Maybe some day I'll get to have my story book characters. We didn't get any family pictures of us in our Halloween costumes which I am so sad about, but there's always next year. I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween.

A Couple of Mugs

2010-11-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

I love these pictures of Matt and Jolie. I just think they are too cute. Jolie's dirty look is one I am sure I will be sick of in a few years. Can you imagine that face as a teenager. They are both so scroungy but you gotta love it.

Fire Station Visit

2010-10-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

I have been horrible about updating and such, but today we got to take a tour of a fire station. I think I may have been more excited about it than Jayden. Do you ever do that? Get excited to see your child do something that you think they are going to love.? I do this constantly. I loved the beautiful bright colors of the fire trucks. I just kept visualizing all of these amazing pictures I could get. But I didn't because my 3 year old hates getting his picture taken. Grrr. Or he wants to wear his batman mask in every picture. Grrr. I was still glad to have gone. I'm sure one day he'll appreciate it as much as I do, or maybe not.

Arguing with a 3 year old

2010-09-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

(Picture from way back in March)
I was visiting with my Dad on the phone today and ended the conversation with "Bye, I love you Dad." Jayden was very quick to correct me in telling me that it was not my Dad. It was his Grandpa. After going back and forth I just laughed and walked away. He was sure to tell me, "Mom it's not funny. It's my Grandpa, not your Dad." We have this conversation a lot about my Mom and Dad. He is so possessive of them. They can't be anyone but his Grandma and Grandpa. I know he's only three, but it sure makes me laugh when he is so insistent and unbending. I wonder where he gets that from.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game...

2010-09-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to the Diamondbacks Game. It was a lot of fun watching how excited the kids got and watching their eyes at how big everything was. We sat up in the nose bleed, but on the first row, so we had okay seats. Jayden loved leaning on the railing and sucking the rail(gross I know) but at least we could see. We had 11 people total in our group. Thanks everyone for coming. It was so fun to be with you all.

Matt's Tri

2010-09-01T15:21:00.001-07:00

I am a little behind with getting moved in but I wanted to post pictures of Matt's Tri in the Pines. He decided way last minute to do it(he's crazy). He did really well though. I don't know details, I was too busy with watching cheaters only take one lap on the bike, or only taking one lap on the run. I know who you are. I was proud of my athlete. Good job Babe.

What We're Excited For

2010-09-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

While I was growing up I loved watching my brothers play baseball. So this weekend I'm so excited to take Jayden to his very first professional baseball game. Jolie's outfit was easy to make, but Jayden's(ugliest shirt ever) has been trying. I've never done sleeves before, and I don't think I'm ready. I tried and tried but they just weren't turning out right. I don't have that many shirts to experiment with, so he'll be wearing a white shirt underneath. That's kind of baseballish(sic) right.

Goodbye Wonderful Summer...

2010-08-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

This is our last week living here. I try not to think about it but it's hard when you're packing and forced to think about it. We have loved being up here. It's been a wonderful summer. One I didn't want to end. But it must end and we will make our new "apartment" our new home. I saw a movie recently that really helped me look at things differently. So I am going to try to stop waiting for things to happen, and enjoy the moments more. Goodbye Wonderful Summer, Hello change.

More Strawberries

2010-08-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

Early Birthday Party

2010-08-10T20:55:00.001-07:00

I had a little family party for Jolie Kate. Her birthday is the 17th, but we didi it early because we're moving next week and I didn't want it to be too hectic or crazy. Amanda made the cutest invitations(I'll post other pictures later), Kamry cut the letters out for me for her banner, I made party hats, Jolie's ones, strawberry barrettes for the girl party guests, etc. We had sweet pork burritos with cilantro lime slaw hmm. For dessert we had cake balls, cupcakes, strawberries drizzled in white chocolate, and cupcakes. Jolie was wonderful and she loved her cake. She sat in her high chair almost the whole time eating tortillas, strawberries and then cake. What a doll she is. I couldn't be more happier. As I put her to bed last night I just teared up with amazement at how special she is to me. I'm so grateful to have such a sweet happy spirit. I'll post more pictures as I get my housework under control.

Projets

2010-08-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

Can you guess what I'm working on?

The Mountains

2010-08-04T11:43:00.001-07:00

We move in officially 16 days back down to the miserable heat of the valley. I'm not too excited about it as you can tell in my tone, but that's life. A few days ago we drove up into Sunrise and enjoyed the amazing weather and all of the rain we've been getting lately. I wish I didn't have to leave, but again, that's life.

So Long, Farewell

2010-08-04T11:35:00.001-07:00

It's a day I've been sort of dreading, but life goes on. Erica moved to Nebraska last week for Brett and her to start law school. Earlier in the week I drove down to the valley, and we surprised Erica with an early birthday and going away dinner. One last hurrah for a while. We'll miss you Erica Diane. Until Christmas love.

Reasons I love Pioneer Day...in Snowflake

2010-07-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

Getting together with old friends.

Food

Playing at the Park

Swim Lessons

2010-07-21T09:08:00.001-07:00

He did it, or should I say we did it. Jayden completed his first session of swimming lessons. The first day he didn't even get in the water, but after that he did pretty good. He was the youngest in his class and you could tell. The last day I could barely keep from crying, pathetic I know. The whole time he smiles and waves at me and tells his friends, "That's my mom." I don't know if he learned a whole lot, but it was fun to watch him. Even now he keeps telling me to say "Mom, say good job Jayden at swimming lessons."

Powell Pics

2010-07-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

Jayden, Jolie and I were at the lake for over a week this year. Jayden played so good in the beginning of the week. In this picture he literally was standing like this for probably 30 minutes. He kept waiting for the waves to take him away.
We have a talent show and Jayden and Emily thought they needed to do something, they never mustered up the courage and Jayden ended up throwing a huge fit after this. He was tired and I think by this time he had about enough of the sun.
Here's my beauty. Here she is eating an Oreo. Isn't she too cute.
Thank goodness for coke. What can we say, we love our coke.
Here's Darylyn and Jolie just hanging out. I love how Jolie will smile now when I pull out the camera.

We're Back LP 2010

2010-06-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Lake Powell and it was the best weather, beach, and fun we've had yet. Check back for more pictures.

9 Months

2010-05-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

I know everybody says this but it's true. I really can't believe that my baby is 9 months old. There are so many times when I feel like she is a newborn still. Jolie is a great baby. She is a little petite I guess. She eats like crazy though so I don't mind that at all. She doesn't move around a whole lot which I am learning to be grateful for. She is a mommy's girl but I don't mind that at all. There are many days when I wonder how my mom didn't go crazy. I pray for mental strength and I am marveled at women who do it by themselves and who have more children. I am grateful to be a stay at home mom and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Update on Jolie Kate

2010-05-02T21:23:00.001-07:00

Our darling Jolie is 8 months old going on 3 months(because of the things she does or doesn't do). She has finally started rolling over more. She still has no desire to crawl. She is pretty much content just sitting on the bed watching whatever is going on around her. Jolie is still a great sleeper and a great eater. I have daily battles with Jayden, but she will eat anything I put in front of her. I love that. Matt will comment on how messy she is but I say I would rather clean up 50 of her messes than fight with Jayden about eating his breakfast. I love this girl. She is my pal and I only hope that I can be the mother to her that my mom was to me.

He's Three

2010-05-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe I have a three year old little boy. Jayden Monroe Waite has brought such joy into our lives. We were able to celebrate his birthday while we were in Phoenix for Matt's test this past weekend. I tend to think things out too much and I am really trying to just not over think things and to enjoy the moments more. Since we weren't at home, I had to get everything ready days before. Then that morning Matt had his big test, then we had the party right after he got done. Luckily we had family there to help calm me down, and the day was very exhausting but enjoyable. He loved the attention and I know he had lots of fun on his birthday.

Our birthday boy in his birthday shirt that I TRIED to make.
The kids played with the bubble machine and who doesn't love bubbles. Well maybe the lady who was reading a book and they kept hitting her in head because of the wind. Oops.

Jayden and his party guests, Derek & Emily
My handsome husband

Jolie really is a happy baby, but when we're around other people, she has this look on her face like she is always judging you. She gives quite the dirty looks, but isn't she cute.

Jayden had a great birthday. Here is after the party when he couldn't get enough of Emily. He wanted her right beside him, holding her and cuddling with her. It was pretty adorable, but made me want him to never have a girlfriend. He will be the best husband. He is so good about telling me when I put on my sunday clothes how beautiful I am, or when Jeanie came out in her prom dress he immediately says how beautiful she is. He is such a sweet boy. We love him so much.

"I Love To See The Temple"

2010-05-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

On the 30th we were able to go to the Gila Valley Temple Open House. It was a great experience. Growing up my parents were wonderful and they took us to many temple open houses over the country. It was such a fond memory of mine growing up that I was excited to start it with my own family. If anyone lives close, it's worth the trip. It's a beautiful temple and the detail the church puts into it's temples just goes to show how important and how special they are to us. The chandeliers were amazing. Here are a few pictures of the trip.

Ursula, Our Star

2010-03-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

My little sister Jeanie Pearl is a star. She played Ursula in her High School's play of "Bye Bye Birdie". I really don't think I am biased when I say she was the star. She was hilarious, gorgeous, amazing, quirky and I could go on and on. I got to sit in the audience and play the proud sister. Jayden loved it too. He sat there so good, watching her, clapping, asking why Jeanie was scared(making scared faced). Anytime I dance now around him he tells me to dance like Jeanie. He was quite a fan. I probably took 75 pictures, oops, but here are just a few. Good job sis. You were amazing!

First Modeling Gig

2010-03-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

Our beautiful baby landed her first modeling gig, kind of. There is a pizza place in Tempe that we love. It's called Spinato's. It's amazing and worth the drive. While there for my birthday dinner with friends, a man came up and asked me if Jolie could be a mini spokesperson. Of course she can I said. So here she is, our little Spinato's model.

Pictures from the last while

2010-03-14T17:42:00.001-07:00

Still Alive

2010-03-14T17:09:00.001-07:00

We have been super busy the past month and a half. Valentines Day at Darrell and Kendra's, Going to St. George after Leslie had her baby, visiting Matts Grandpa Waite in Hurricane, UT, at the very beginning of March we moved to Show Low, and since then we have been getting settled in. Here are a few of the photos of the past month.

2010-02-03T13:12:00.000-08:00

He's Home

2010-02-02T14:49:00.001-08:00

James returned home from Argentina on Saturday morning. It was wonderful to see him and get to hug on him again. I hadn't been able to sleep the week whole prior to him coming home because of weird dreams that his bus would break down or his flights would be cancelled. Well luckily everything went smoothly and our sweet James returned home safe and sound.

Those cheeks, can she breathe...

2010-01-15T06:53:00.001-08:00

Last night Matt was watching the kids while I was out. I come home and Jolie is in her jumper which usually means Matt got sick of her. I had only been home a few minutes and this lovely jumper(thank you again Karah & Rikki) put this fat baby right to sleep. Matt asks me "Katie, do you think she can still breathe?" Her cheeks are obviously huge and she was leaned up right against it. She was so dang cute. Man I love those cheeks. Man I love this jumper.

First Warhead

2010-01-15T06:29:00.000-08:00

After much deliberation we decided we would potty train Jayden this month. I talked to a few people and read about different methods and we decided on the "Party Method"(thank you Karah). So after Jayden went to the bathroom successfully he would get a treat and a mini party. One time he was successful he picked out a warhead. When he chose this I immediately got my camera because I knew it was going to be good.Jayden opening the warheadSo excited because it's candyThinking what is thisDisgustingCrazy mother, why would she let me have thisThat's enough of that

It was pretty funny, I guess you had to be there though. So we are successful. Jayden is going in the toilet, and loves his big boy underwear. He still is pantless for most of the time, but at least he's dry and happy. Any mom's who are dreading it, don't. It's not that bad, just be consistent. Do you remember your first warhead?

I WISH...

2009-12-15T10:13:00.000-08:00

There are so many times when I look at Jolie and envy how comfortable she looks. Either while she's sleeping in her swing, swaddled in her blanket, or sleeping in car seat. Then I go off on a tangent and wish they made adult sized swings, blankets big enough where I could be swaddled, and adult sized car seats. I would love to travel sitting like that, being strapped in, not able to move, held in so tight. Lucky Girl.

"Mom, I'm buuusssy"

2009-12-11T12:58:00.001-08:00

I feel like I talk about Jolie but hardly mention Jayden anymore. Yes he's still alive. He has his days of where I want to ship him to Snowflake, but for the most part he's the sweetest little boy we could have ever hoped for. Where have these 2+ years gone? Everyday when he says certain things I'm just amazed at how he's not so little anymore. Like when he tells me to say "Mom, say sorry Jayden", after I push him out of the way, or when he tells me he's buuusssy, or when he tells us his poop is disgusting. Yes Jayden, you're right, it is disgusting. He's hilarious and I love him. Here are some recent pictures of our Jayden Boy.

Be Thinking

2009-12-03T10:09:00.001-08:00

Like I said before I love my sewing machine. It's wonderful. Well someone asked me about it and so I thought I would share with you a little bit of information. My Mom found my machine for me on Ebay. She's been finding machines like this for the past few years and she either holds on to them in case she needs an extra or lets someone in need of one buy it from her(doesn't make any money on it). Just this past month she found a machine for a guy in Snowflake who was wanting one for his girlfriend. People ask my Mom because she is the expert and sews more than anyone I've ever met. She knows what to look for, and if it's a good price or not. So if you're interested in buying a sewing machine, check with my Mom or get with me and I'll put you in contact with my Mom. You don't want to buy a cheap machine that's too confusing or too frustrating or that won't actually do the things you want to do on it.
Also, my Mom gets asked to do sewing classes all the time and has taught a few semesters at NPC. I told her this next summer I want to take a sewing class from her. It will be in Snowflake so if you're interested let me know and we'll start figuring something out for probably the summer. In the past she has done it for a week or two and it's usually a couple hours a day. So for any of you Snowflakeites(sic) or Mountainites(sic) or if you still have family up there, this might be an amazing chance for you to learn from a fabulous teacher. So be thinking.

3 Months and a Bit

2009-11-24T08:06:00.000-08:00

Jolie turned 3 months last week, and I was too busy to post pictures. She has had a few changes since her last pictures. She was a big girl and got her ears pierced. Her hair is growing, and she's laughing and smiling a lot(wasn't lucky enough to get any on camera). I love this baby so much. She is wonderful. She sleeps through the night, eats great, hardly ever cries, and demands little attention. I feel bad at times because she is so good. The only thing she is having a hard time with is tummy time. I hate tummy time. I never had to do it with Jayden because he loved sleeping on his stomach. I know I'm a terrible mother and I let my newborn sleep on their stomach. Jolie hates it though. She wears herself out crying that she ends up just falling asleep which I don't think is the point. We're working on it though. We love her and I am so grateful to have such a wonderful baby girl.

About Time

2009-11-24T07:58:00.000-08:00

With my mom being a fabulous seamstress it's made me a bit lazy in the sewing department. I bought a machine just like hers a while ago with good intentions. I've done a few minor things, but nothing worth sharing and all with my mom's help. This past week I finally did something I was proud of. I hemmed two pairs of Jayden's pants, made baby legs for Jolie, and sewed a bunch of yo-yo's for Jolie and me. Matt has even done some repairs with the sewing machine. I love my machine. It's simple, heavy duty, and exactly like my mom's which makes it great when I have a question. More projects to come.

G-Ma's 75th B-day

2009-11-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

My Grandma(mom's mom) turns the big 75 today. Yesterday there was a open house and then a birthday party for her at Aunt Nan's. My G-ma lives in Indiana, so the siblings flew her out here for the shin dig(sic). We got to decorate the dessert table and make some goodies for everyone. It turned out really pretty and it was a lot of fun to do. One of the pictures is a four generation with my grandma, my mom, Jeanie Pearl and me, and then my sweet Jolie Kate. Happy Birthday Grandma.

Perfect

2009-11-13T09:25:00.001-08:00

So I managed to not have one Oreo since my post last week. Pretty good huh. Still no weight off though. Matt keeps telling me not to get frustrated, that I'm fine, and that I have to be patient. I used to think I was a patient person. I'm not so sure about that anymore.

Good Bye Goodness

2009-11-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

This little guy right here has been my love for many many years. Ever since I was little I have been obsessed with Oreos. Back in the day when my Mom switched to Sam's version of Twist and Shout's it just wasn't the same. This has been a staple on my grocery list as well. Well now after a very long relationship, I am saying good bye to my frenemy, until I am back down to my pre pregnancy weight. The workouts are going good, but the weight isn't coming off. I think it might have something to do with the three Oreo cookies and cup of milk I have every night after my kids are asleep. That's 210 calories for the cookies, and another 100 calories for my 1% milk. That's basically 30 minutes of cardio I have to do for maybe 5 minutes of pleasure. So I'm breaking up with the Oreo. I will miss all of that creamy chocolaty goodness. The sacrifices we make to have babies I swear.

It's Over

2009-11-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Halloween. The funnest part is getting all dressed up. My Mom was hilarious, Jeanie was super scary, and we were super camo'd(sic) out. We're already looking forward to next Halloween. James will be here and then we can really have us a party.

2009-10-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

My excitement that Halloween is here is bursting out of my body. I love love Halloween. I love Halloween because it's a day you can forget who you are and have full license to be anything else. Also, it reminds me of my wonderful family. We always loved Halloween. Today is my sweet brother James' 21st birthday. Happy Birthday James. Can't wait until you come home. Only three more months.

Jolie's Blessing

2009-10-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

What a day. I wish I wouldn't make it so stressful and I could enjoy it more. That will be my goal for my other kids. Enjoy the actual blessing more, and don't worry so much about all the other stuff. It was a wonderful but exhausting day. That is the only time when I wasn't so thrilled at having 8:00 church. Thanks to all who were able to come. It meant a lot to us.

It's Gone

2009-10-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

Before Jolie was born I said that I was going to shave her hair if she had any. Jayden's fell out in weird places and it was not cute. We would look back at pictures of him and wonder why we thought he was so cute. So we said we weren't going to let that happen to Jolie. After much deliberation on my part, none on Matt's because he is wise and knows that it will be for the better, we decided to shave her hair. I literally almost cried. It's just hair right? I was so worried that she was going to be scarred from the experience of her parents shaving her hair off when she was only 8 weeks old. With that said, we did it and I actually think she looks cute without all of her hair. Hopefully she'll thank me when she has beautifully thick hair.

HELP!!!

2009-10-11T19:02:00.001-07:00

I need help trying to decide if we should shave Jolie's hair off. It's not quite ugly yet, but we don't want it to get to the ugly falling out stage. Give me your opinion. I can't decide.Here is a picture of her without a bow so you can see what her hair looks like as of now.

More Jolie

2009-10-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

Our sweet dolly Jolie Kate turned 7 weeks yesterday. She is getting bigger and chubbier and I am loving her little roles and how she is filling out. She's an amazingly good baby. I feel spoiled because she has been so good. Here are some pictures of her @ 7 weeks. She still has her hair for now but we'll see if it decides to fall out, or if I decide to shave it off.

Cousins, Mechanical Bull & Celebrities

2009-09-29T20:39:00.000-07:00

Sunday I went with my mom and Aunt Nana to St. George to visit my sister Leslie, and to see Footloose at Tuacahn. We had a great short trip with lots of hours in the car(what did we ever do without DVD players in vehicles?) and lots of visiting. Here are some of the pictures of the cousins playing. We had Derek and Emily so the only cousin we were missing was baby Sarah. It was so fun to watch them all play.

(Mom and Aunt Nan @ Tuacahn)
My brother in law Scott told me to make sure and take $5 for the show because there was going to be something during intermission that I would want to do. He said, they bring out a mechanical bull. Well I obviously haven't lost all of my pregnancy weight yet and who wants to see an overweight mom on a mechanical bull? So I just laughed at him. We went to the show(which was amazing) and sure enough during intermission they bring out the bull. People start lining up and ride it on stage in front of the whole audience. I was not going to do it but as I sat there and thought, I knew I would regret not doing it. I have always wanted to ride a mechanical bull. I guess it's the Urban Cowgirl in me. This was probably going to be my only chance because I tend to not visit the local bars, so I decided I would do it. I pulled out my money and got in line. As I'm signing my name I'm shaking because I am so nervous. Then they announce me and I go up and I rode that bull. It was everything I had ever dreamed it to be. I was so proud of myself. I know I look horrible in the picture, but here's my proof that I did it.
Then my favorite part of the whole trip happened soon thereafter. I am an avid So You Think You Can Dance viewer. Thayne from Season 4 was Ren in Footloose. He did a great job and was so fun to watch. Well we had third row seats and I had two empty seats by me the entire first half which was really nice. Right before the second half started the people that had bought those seats showed up. I had Jolie with, so of course I had a diaper bag, blankets, burp rags, and etc. everywhere so we were trying to get it all moved. I look up and see who I'm clearing the seats for and it's Jessica from Season 4 of So You Think You Can Dance. My jaw dropped. I didn't really like her on that Season but it was still cool. The girl that was sitting by me I didn't know, but I turned around to the other empty seat and it was Katee that was also from Season 4. She was my favorite. I wanted her to win that season. Then my jaw dropped even more. So the show starts and a slow song comes on and Jolie starts to get fussy. Well the way the stage was set up, this particular scene was right by us and we had lights shining on us. It was really quiet and so I'm trying to calm Jolie down and I couldn't get up and walk out because I would've blocked the scene. I didn't want these girls to be ticked because I had this crying baby and they came all this way to see their friend so I took the easy way out, nurse her. So here I am with Jessica sitting one seat away from me, and Katee sitting behind me and I plop out my you know what and start nursing my infant child. I was so embarrassed. I was so worried what they were going to be thinking, wow this girl is a hick, right in the middle of a show she feeds her kid, seriously people still nurse their children. Remember the spotlight is shining in our direction and I'm trying to uncover myself and still keep decent. Aunt Nana is trying to cover me up so the lights don't give everyone another show. Anyway I was by this time sweating bullets trying to keep covered up and my sweet girl quiet. Well as the show goes on Jolie gets fussy again so I get up and walk out. I am at the top of the theater pacing back and forth trying to figure out what I am going to say to these girls. I wanted to talk to them and tell them I loved the show. I wanted to tell them how much I liked Katee, but I didn't want Jessica to feel bad, and I didn't want to lie and say that I liked her too when I didn't. So when curtain call comes I walk down the aisle and I'm waiting for the perfect moment. I wanted to ask if they would take a picture with Jolie, but I was so worried that they would think I was weird. Do I worry too much what people think of me or what?!? So the show is barely over and my Mom and Aunt Nan get up right away to beat the rush of people so I grab Katee's arm and I say, "Katee I just wanted you to know that you were my favorite last season and I wanted you to win so badly." She was super sweet and said thanks and that was that. I was on a celebrity high. I loved seeing her and I just kept staring the whole time. I honestly couldn't have been more excited seeing Will Smith or Brad Pitt. The only celeb that could compare would be Steve Carell. Oh what a night. Oh and by the way these girls are super tiny in real life. No wonder these boys can throw them around the stage like they weigh nothing, they really weigh nothing. Didn't I feel like a hefer. P.S. Go to youtube and watch her, type Katee and Twitch, Mercy. It's amazing.

All By Himself

2009-09-21T07:18:00.000-07:00

(Please don't turn me in to CPS Wal-Mart. These are not graphic pictures.)

Before Jolie was born we bought a toilet seat attachment for Jayden because we thought we might potty train him. Well we soon realized he didn't yet get the concept. Well yesterday Jayden was in Matt's bathroom with Matt(no privacy in my family when you're in the bathroom) and Matt said that Jayden tooted then hurry and ran to my bathroom(clean bathroom) and Matt could hear him lifting up the lid. Matt then goes in and puts Jayden's potty seat down and then the magic happened. Jayden pooped on the toilet. Yeah for our little boy. He did it all by himself. Matt yelled for me to come in and we were a little happy family in our small 3x5 bathroom. We were quite the proud parents. So whether it was a fluke and he never does it again, or if he's on his way to no more diapers, I wanted to document his first bowel movement in the toilet.
I also realized I didn't have any pictures of Jayden with Jolie so here is one also. He's gotten over the stage of not liking her(throwing a golf ball at her head) and is enraptured by her now. He loves to kiss her and I have to remind him no french kisses, close that mouth silly boy.

First Day

2009-09-13T15:15:00.001-07:00

Today was Jolie's big first day of church. 8:00 church was a little stressful this week, but luckily Matt was a huge help. She did so good, and everyone loved her hair. Why can't babies stay this small for even just a little bit longer. I saw four month old babies today and they looked so big, it made me want to cry. Just stay little. I love this baby, and yes her toes are painted purple. I couldn't help myself.

Once Upon A Time...

2009-09-13T14:37:00.001-07:00

there was a cute little boy.
This little boy loved to play at the park.
Then he decided to go play basketball with his daddy.
His Daddy picked him up for a slam dunk.
And sad to say that little boy got knocked in the nose by the hoop.
Very sad.
He cried and cried and didn't want to play anymore.
And his dad tried to console him.
But the only thing that worked was Coke.
Poor little guy, at least Coke was there to save the day.

HELP

2009-09-10T07:47:00.000-07:00

Here is my cry for help. It's time to cut my hair as I have been feeling and looking like the above picture lately. I don't want to chop it, I just want it to look like Cindy Crawford. Am I asking too much? Here is where I need help though. I need to find someone good to cut my hair. I go to salons, and I'm never really happy with what they've done. I end up paying too much money for something I'm not happy with. Then I go somewhere cheap like Fantastic Sam's or Great clips, and I pay next to nothing, and I'm still not happy with it. Then all of the good haircuts I have gotten have been from people that live out of town and I can't go for a road trip every time I need a haircut. I need someone who isn't so pricey, but who is good. So if any of you out there have a name for me, give it up. I'm in desperation. I don't want to look like a ragged new mommy anymore. HELP!!!

Jolie Kate

2009-09-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Jolie Kate is three weeks old today. I love having a girl. While I was pregnant I couldn't wait to paint her toes, put flowers in her hair, dress her up and now I can. She's getting prettier and chubbier by the day and I love watching those cheeks fill out. Jayden had a rough go of having a new member of the family, but he's finally adjusting. It's so weird to now think that we have two kids. I still feel like I'm 19. Thanks again for all those who have helped us out during this transition period. It wouldn't have gone as smooth without you all.

Here's the Story...

2009-08-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday went to church, did nursery, had dinner at my Aunt Nan's, went home, went to bed around 9:30 or so. I start waking up around 11:00 with some cramps, but go back to bed, wake up again around 12:30 with more cramps but go right back to bed. Then around 1:25 I wake up again with contractions. I got out of bed, turned the TV on and start timing them. Sure enough they are every 5 minutes but not super strong. I called my hospital around 2:30 because we live about an hour from the hospital and so I wanted to make sure I was there in time. The hospital told me to come in when I couldn't talk through my contractions. So I keep timing them and around 2:50 I know it's probably time we get going. I wake up Matt and he showers so I shower and the contractions got strong really fast. I call my mom who was luckily at Darrell's and she was going to meet us at John's where we were dropping off Jayden. Well on the way to St. Joseph's hospital I know I am starting to go through transition. I tell Matt to tell my Mom to just meet us at the hospital because it is going to go quick. I was so worried my water was going to break in the car and Matt would be mad at me but luckily it didn't. We left our house around 3:00, got to the hospital around 4:00 and I am admitted right away. The nurse checks me and I'm at a 6 and I thought oh no, another 4 hours, great. I was already in so much pain, but she said I was going to go quick. Matt luckily gets there after dropping off Jayden and him and my Mom are helping me through the contractions(they are the best team ever, I wish I could hire them out). I then go to my labor room and my midwife shows up right soon after. I was literally in my room for maybe a few minutes when my water breaks, and then 5 minutes before I started to feel like I wanted to push. My midwife didn't even check me and she said if you need to push, go ahead. So I pushed for a few hard minutes and our sweet baby girl, Jolie Kate Waite was born at 5:13 a.m. I was literally in the hospital a little over an hour and she was born. It was fast and really hard, but it was wonderful. I loved my midwives. The reason we went to St. Joseph's was because I wanted midwives to deliver this time(after our horrible experience last time). If anyone out there has ever thought of doing a natural birth, or was at all disappointed in their labor experience, I would recommend going to the DORM clinic at St. Joseph's. Yes it was sometimes annoying to drive to downtown Phoenix for my appointments, but it was well worth it. I feel wonderful. The nurses let me hold Jolie for such a long time before taking her and weighing her. I could go on and on about how wonderful it was, but I won't. Jolie has tons of dark hair and people say she looks like Jayden. I can't really tell but she is a great 2 day old baby so far. Yes her name is Jolie and no we're not obsessed with Angelina Jolie, I just like the name. Jolie's stats were 7 lbs. 4 oz, and 19 1/2 inches long. She's quite a bit smaller than Jayden which I was shocked about. She was so violent inside of me that it's hard to believe that this little tiny girl caused so much pain. That's about it though. We're home and everybody is healthy.

Quick Update

2009-08-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

I had an appointment yesterday and everything looks good. She said the only reason I haven't had the baby is well because I haven't had it. I'm dilated to a four as of yesterday. When I was induced with Jayden I was a three. I could walk around for weeks as a four though she said. Anyway, still pregnant but that's okay. She'll come when she's ready I guess.

Happy Birthday!!!

2009-08-11T10:48:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to post a really quick birthday wish to my favorite Daddy in the whole world, and also to the best friend anyone could ask for. Happy Birthday you guys. I love you both so much.

(Matt asked me why I put such a horrible picture up of myself on the blog. My response is I thought it was funny. I know I look horrible, but it was so long ago. We all have an ugly stage right?)

Can't Wait

2009-08-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows how much I enjoy my sleep. I can fall asleep literally within a minute(sorry Matt, I know it's annoying) and I am a total morning person. I have been sleeping pretty great until last night. Not that I was uncomfortable or having contractions, I just want to see this baby. I would wake up every hour on the hour and just stare at the clock. I'm not complaining about lack of sleep because I still get plenty, I am just expressing the desire to have this baby come into our home. As soon as I have a cramp or contraction(I still don't rememeber or know what they feel like) I start feeling like I'm not ready but how ready can you really be I guess? So I'm grateful for the sleep I get, and I wish there was a sign that popped out on your belly that read "You're in labor" or "It's Time". I know this is silly but I'm worried that I have such a pain tolerance that I won't know when to go to the hospital, and then I won't know when to call my mom to have her come down, and then she won't get here in time to help me through my delivery, and then I'll end up getting an epidural because she wasn't there. Don't you wish you could turn your brain off sometimes because it's just so exhausting? Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Dear Little Baby Girl,

I am getting so excited for you to join our family. I thought you might come today but it doesn't look like it now. Your brother came a week late so that's probably what you'll do, but you feel way more active than him. I'm hoping you're getting excited to meet us too. It's hot out here so be prepared. You have been so good to me other than the occasional beat downs but it's all been worth it. I hope you have your Dad's sweet temperament and your brother eyes. I'll keep trying to be patient so come when you're ready. See you soon. --Love Your Mommy

Let's Celebrate

2009-07-25T07:02:00.000-07:00

Right after Wicked got out, Matt and I drove up to Snowflake because there was no way we were going to miss Pioneer Days. We arrived safely at around 1:40 in the morning. Luckily my dear Terra let Jayden ride up with her family so we didn't have to worry about him (thanks Terra). Here are a few pictures of us at the parade. I love sitting with my family because I get to hear the cutest things little kids say like "This is the best day of my life" as they get the candy thrown at them. It was fun to watch Jayden this year as he's sort of getting it. I honestly don't think he ate more than two pieces of his candy, but it's the running out in the street that's the fun part right? It was a beautiful day and we got to relax and enjoy being out of the valley heat.

Oh Baby Baby

2009-07-25T06:42:00.001-07:00

Some of my favorite items on the menu.

A few weekends ago some of my dear friends threw a shower for me in Snowflake. They were wonderful enough to travel up and put together the most chick shower I've ever been to. It was small in numbers but oh so intimate. I wouldn't have had it any other way. Thank you to all those who came, and especially thank you to Erica, Micah and Terra. You are the best friends anyone could ever dream of. It was a dream. Surprise surprise there wasn't a decent picture taken of me(35 weeks is not so cute when you have a round face that you get from your father plus a few pregnancy pounds, thanks Dad) but I'll post one anyway.

Wicked at Last

2009-07-25T06:32:00.001-07:00

So for over a year now we've been planning to see Wicked. The date was set and I have waited patiently, very patiently. I've never read the book and I had listened to a few songs, but that was it(someone sang a song from it once and it kind of ruined it for me which is why I never got into it). Well a week before we went and saw the play, I went and bought the soundtrack so I could have an idea of what was going on. After dissecting what I could, I grew even more excited to see if my theories were right. As Elphie sings her first song, chills ran down my body and tears filled my eyes. It was amazing and an experience I will never forget. Every time I see something like "Lion King", "Beauty and the Beast", "Les Mis",the list could go on and on, it's almost like a spiritual experience. It makes me so grateful for the people who are so talented and it makes me envious of those people. Oh well, I'll be the mom and they can be the ones who get to entertain my mind heart and soul. I'll just say again I loved it. Thank you Sharon and Jay.

Funny Things

2009-07-13T21:14:00.000-07:00

Jayden has been talking more lately(still not that much compared to other kids his age but oh well) and I have been loving it, for the most part. Here are just a couple things he said today. I had my Dr.'s appointment this morning and he came with me. Now picture and OBGYN's office walls...what are the usual pictures of? Yes that's right, very graphic illustrations of a womans body. Jayden has seen these before but this time he points up to the picture and looks at me and says EWW!!! I just started laughing and laughing. It was too cute. Also he has started saying WHY? I've been dreading this one, but it's just too cute(for now). He says it in the littlest man voice like he's got the most important question and he needs you to answer it or life will be over as he knows it. As he said it for the first time in the car yesterday I wanted to cry it was so cute. Next post I'm sure I'll be saying how annoying it is, but for now I'll enjoy it.

Why We Love It

2009-06-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

We're back from Powell and it's bittersweet. I have piles and piles of laundry and chores to do now, but it's all worth it. I'll get my chores done, and head back up to Snowflake for my baby sister's Sweet 16. Can you believe it? Am I getting old or what. I'll post about that later. Anyway, Lake Powell was great this year, as usual. We had really good weather and had a great time with my family. Here's some pictures of our time on the lake(I'll try to contain myself).
Jayden playing on the beach with Grandma. My mom looked so good at Lake Powell, seriously look at those legs. Can't you tell she was in Pom(to clear it up, it's POM as in dance at McClintock High).
One spot where we parked there were a ton of lizards on the rocks. Jayden loved looking for them, Matt loved catching them, and Jeanie couldn't get the courage to catch them, as for me, too slow, too fat.
Jayden and Matt on the jet ski, notice he's awake.
Now he's asleep. Either Matt's a really boring driver(ha ha, right), or it's just that relaxing.
Just a group shot on the beach.
Jayden and Matt getting ready to go on the tube.
I didn't know if Jayden would go but he did and he liked it.
I was so proud.
Okay my husband works so hard at the gym and is so dedicated, it's amazing to me(and a little irritating because he looks so good, and I just keep getting bigger and bigger). Look at how delicious he is. I couldn't keep my eyes off him. This year he was smoking hot. Good job babe.
Jayden being his model self, seriously could I make money off of him or what.
One of the only pictures of me. I promise I was there, just behind the camera most of the time. Plus I didn't do too much activities. I didn't want to risk anything happening.
Matt has become quite the fisherman. Pretty big eh.
Again is he not just beautiful. I swear I'm not too biased.
Another jet ski ride with Daddy, again he's awake.
Comes back asleep.
Us girls painted our toes and Jayden had to be apart of it. Here he is modeling his hands.
Waite Family, Lake Powell 2009

It was so much fun to play with cousins and be with different family members this year. We missed James like crazy, and for me it wasn't the same without him. Can't wait for next year.

Ready or Not, Here We Come

2009-06-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

So today is the day I've been waiting for almost two years now. We didn't go last year, and I've missed it so bad. It will be different since I am big and huge right now, but that's okay, no cute bikinis for me, ha! The sun is still calling my name. Plus my sweet boy James will be absent and so it won't be the same without him. If you've guessed Lake Powell, you're right. Today we are off. I can hardly contain myself with the excitement I have. So for the next few days I will be relaxing on top of a house boat, improving my tan, enjoying the best family there is, and wishing it would never end. See ya soon.
(This is us two years ago at the Lake. Time goes by so fast, and luckily babies get cuter.)

Snowflake, Birthdays & Babies

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

Well I'm 30 weeks now and I can't believe I still have 10 more to go. It's not that I am miserable or uncomfortable, it's that these last 10 weeks have gone by so slow and I want so badly to see our little girl. To pass the time by quicker we have been trying to keep busy. We've spent some time up in the beautiful weather of Snowflake. Like I've said 100,000 times Jayden loves it up there because he can play outside and never feel like it's too hot. Here are some pictures I took while we were in Snowflake.

Yesterday we played with the Overstreets for Jaxon's birthday. Jason's parents have turtles and so that was really fun to see. It was a really nice day and so good to see the Overstreets.

This week Jayden was also lucky enough to get three new cousins. Ryan & Amanda had their twin boys, and my brother Darrell and his wife Kendra had their baby girl. After the party we went over to see baby SARAH (that's for Kendra). You would think that my babies would look somewhat like this but no. My babies will probably all be blonde with blue eyes and light skin. Oh well, at least Jayden's pretty. P.S. Sorry Kendra and Darrell for posting a picture of your baby. I couldn't help it. What can I say, I want one.

Recent Activities

2009-05-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

Terra, Micah and I took our kids to the Children's Phoenix Museum last week. We had never been before and it was great. I would say for kids ages about 2 and up would really enjoy it. They had a lot of great stuff for kids to play with and do and run around. So if any of you have been thinking about going, it's definitely worth it. Take a sack lunch and enjoy.

A couple of Saturdays ago John came over and helped Matt with the fence that we've been working on. Jayden loves John and didn't want to leave his side. Luckily John is forgiving because Jayden drank his morning Coke. Thanks John for your help on the fence. Matt needed your help because my mind doesn't do good with things like that.

Getaway

2009-05-15T09:40:00.001-07:00

Since Jayden has been born I think I have only spent a total of three nights away from him, and that was all at once back in December before Christmas. So before our baby girl comes, Matt and I wanted to take a trip without Jayden(even though we love him dearly). That didn't bother Jayden at all because he got to spend almost a week in Snowflake. He got to ride the tractor, work on cars, play in the nice weather, and be spoiled by Jeanie and my parents. I don't think he really missed us. Here are a few pictures from our trip to San Diego. Also, since Matt and I had to back out of our trip to Hawaii with Brett and Erica last year because of a family reunion, we went with them.
We didn't have amazing tanning weather like I had hoped, so no tan for Katie. The house we got to stay at was one block from the beach.

I hadn't been to Sea World since 3rd grade with my family and I was so excited to go. My favorite of course were the Dolphins. I literally had a grin on my face the entire time. On the video you can just hear Erica and I laughing and laughing. If I was an animal, I'd definitely want to be a dolphin.

Shamu was amazing too. Matt thought the whole show was a bit cheesy, but I still loved it. A little too much BELIEVE for him I guess.

Us with the Stingrays.

Beach after Sea World.

We got to do a session and some sealings at the San Diego temple one day. I hadn't been there since we went thru the Open House when I was 9 but it was just as beautiful as I remembered.

On the Walk of Fame there was BumbleBee and Matt had to get a picture with him. It was a pretty cool costume and the guy was really nice. Doesn't Matt look just like a little boy with that big grin on his face. It's so cute it almost makes me want to cry.

We had to see the Walk of Fame because Matt wanted to see Big Willie's shoe and hand print.

Then we stopped by the Los Angeles temple to walk around the grounds.

We had such a good time but I was definitely ready to come home and see my little boy. From the time we got home, until the time we picked Jayden up in Payson I was a nervous wreck. I literally made myself sick with nervousness. I was so scared that Jayden wouldn't want to come back with us, or that he wouldn't have missed us, or that he wouldn't remember who we were. Luckily everything was fine and he was glad to see us. He didn't cry when my parents drove away, but I did. I cried for about 15 minutes on the way back with him in the car. It was ridiculous. Matt kept telling me everything was fine, and I kept saying that six days was too long to go without him. It was great to getaway with my sweet Matt though and just have it be the two of us, well kind of(and baby girl).

He's 2

2009-05-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was our sweet little boy's 2nd birthday. On Thursday we went to the zoo with Derek, Emily, and Kendra(I was so lame and forgot my camera in the car). Jayden loves being around them so much. It was a nice uncrowded day at the zoo and so it was very leisurely. Thanks so much Kendra for bringing your sweet kids and for the gift. Jayden loved it. Friday was pretty low key but I hope Jayden had fun. I took him to the splash park and he got to play and play.

Then for dinner we went to Barros because he loves pizza and he got to play some more.

Then it was home for cake and presents. Since our trip to Indiana I had been wanting to do a John Deere sort of theme. We kept his birthday small so a John Deere cake, and tractor were the stars. He loved his other presents though which always feels good. It's funny being a parent because you really don't want to spoil them because you know they don't need it, but then you just want to and sometimes can't help it. So I really tried hard this year to balance it all out. Thank you to those who called or sent gifts. It wasn't necessary but it was appreciated. I think he had a good birthday.

This is for my Sweet Jayden Monroe. Jayden you have made my life more wonderful than I could have ever imagined. I remember the day you came into the world with great fondness. It was so hard bringing you into this world, but we did it. Your Dad and Grandma Brimhall were there and they helped me get through it and kept me strong so you could come into this world and be healthy. I will never forget the feeling I got and still get when I think of that sweet experience. It was the most empowering moment I have ever felt. Even though you may not look like Daddy and me, you are ours. I remember that nose, and that head, and those funky little toes you have. You are our son and we love you more than anything. I still remember the words of your Dad's blessing. One thing I loved most is when he blessed you with a sweet spirit. I didn't realize it then, but that is so important. You have been the sweetest boy to us and to those around you. Just yesterday as we were walking and you were playing with Daddy a complete stranger made a comment on how infectious your laugh was. You have many gifts that I am so excited to see you share. You are so young but already are so caring and loving. You are one of my best friends and that is why I call you buddy. You were brought to a family who has a deep love of the gospel, and who has made many sacrifices in order to have the gospel in their life. Thank you for coming to our family and making us feel like the luckiest parents in the world. We love you so much. Happy 2nd Birthday.

26 Holy Cow

2009-04-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

So April 21st, what a great day. Not only is it Queen Elizabeth's, Tony Danza, and Charlotte Bronte's birthday, it is my sweet husband, Matthew Jordon Waite's birthday. For those of you who don't know Matt as well as some, you're missing out. I hit the jackpot with Matt. At the time I was fighting to get Matt, I don't think I realized how lucky I was going to be. There must have been some other power or force helping me who knew how great he would be for me and helped me fight to get and keep him. I can't believe he's 26. He still seems 21 to me. To My Dear Sweet Matt, I love you I love you I love you. You don't look a day over 22. When our baby girl is born, don't forget me. Thank you for choosing me.

Weekend with the Waite's

2009-04-21T07:54:00.001-07:00

Jessica and Eric came down from Washington so we went over to Tucson to spend some time with the family. On Saturday we went to the Reid Park Zoo for a fun family outing.
(A lady volunteered to take a picture of our family, but decided not to include Jayden in it. I was kind of bummed but oh well. BTW I am 23 weeks along as of this picture in case people are wondering why I look like I ate Jayden.)

Matt and Jayden got to feed the giraffe which Matt loved, Jayden on the other hand was not so fond of it. It was a good day at the zoo. It wasn't too big for those of us who can't walk as much anymore and we got done right as it was getting hot.

Then we went for lunch at Beyond Bread and it was delicious.

Since Matt's birthday was coming up I had made his cake early and we got to eat cake that night. It was nice to have Eric & Jessica here and visit with them.

Traveling

2009-04-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

Background info first, my mom was born in Greensburg, Indiana but when she was about two her family up and moved to Arizona, leaving all their relatives behind in Indiana. Almost every summer my mom and siblings would go back to Indiana and spend their summers there. Some of my earliest memories have been from when I visited Indiana. I have such a love for it and for the people who live there. I have been wanting to go back for a while(7 years since the last time I was there). My grandma now lives back there and she recently had surgery so I got to go back with my mom for almost a week. Jayden and I had such a good time visiting and spending time in the country. It's almost a different world back there to me. I have such fond memories of seeing the Amish buggies and playing with the pigs, and smelling my Uncle Jim's(that's what I've always called him he's not really my uncle) clothes. Here are just a few pictures of our trip.Here is Jayden while we were antiquing(sic) in Cambridge City.
My cute mom in a tub we saw and loved while antiquing.
While we were visiting the Hardebecks' Jayden got to play with their old toys they had for their son. This was a John Deere tractor that I wish I could find now that is like cast iron. I loved it and so did Jayden.
Jayden in a sea of old farm toys. Lucky boy.
We got to finally use my cute umbrella while it sprinkled one day. He looked too cute with it so I had to take a picture.
This is the back side of my Grandma's house. Doesn't it look cozy and don't you love the school bell.
This is my favorite place to eat back there. It's the best A&W I have ever been too. Frosty cold root beer in a glass mug, who could ask for more?
The last day we were there we finally got to do my favorite thing...visit the pigs. They are amazing to me and I wish I could have one. Here is a perfect view of the rumps and Uncle Jim.
Jayden and I in the pen with the pigs and Jim.
Us again with the pigs.
Mom and Jayden with pigs. Pigs trying to eat Jayden's shoes. Jayden wasn't so fond of it.
The big stink eye one pig gave us.
My long lost love and his fabulous nose.

Thank you to my sweet husband who let us go and went without us for a very long time. It was the best gift anyone could ask for. I can't wait to go back and show him all of the things I love. Until next time Greensburg, IN.

NEWS

2009-03-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

The news in our family is that we are expecting and it's a Girl!!! We found out today and we are all super excited. The curse of boys in the Waite family has ended. Our ultra sound tech said she was 99% sure. I'm 19 weeks and almost half way done. It looks like it's going to be a hot summer, but as of right now I could care less. I'm just so glad everything looks healthy and IT'S A GIRL!

Bikes Yeah

2009-03-06T08:35:00.001-08:00

We have been wanting to get bikes for the past year, and we finally were able to do it. I know this isn't a very good picture, but for now it will do. Jayden loves our bike rides. The first time we went out, we had a fabulous result. Yep he fell right to sleep. This is the second bike we had to get for me. My first one was so beautiful and white and I loved it. But when you're 5'9 with too long of legs, it's a lot harder to find a bike than you'd think. So we had to take my beautiful bike back and get a boy bike that's plain. I won't complain though I'm just so excited to have bikes.