My Son Turned Two!

Life with a two year old is... different than life with an infant.

Personality.

Independence

Love of Attention

Good thing the kid is still so cute.

My two year old keeps every single day interesting. Take this for example. I call it the Target Tantrum.

Yes. I was THAT mom. My toddler having a full on melt down in the middle of the kids clothing section of Target. What was I doing to stop it? Nothing. I just took pictures.

Cry it out kid. Cry it out.

Eventually, after no sign of it slowing down, I scooped him up like a football and promptly left the store. Clearly it wasn't the right time to be running errands.

Yep... THAT mom...








However challenging those moments may be, having my son say "Night Night Momma. Wuuuuv you." every night, kinda melts my heart. A lot.

Yes he may have opinions. Yes he may test my limits. But in the end there is nothing but unconditional love coming from this little man. He fills my heart with joy. Being a mom isn't glamourous and it isn't high profile. It is just exactly what I need to be.

Oh and PS. I dressed him up as Clark Kent for Halloween. That makes this whole mommy of a toddler thing even more awesome.

The BEST Story EVER

In need for a pick me up today? Well... So am I. So I'm going to tell you the story of Ray's stolen moped/mini motorbike with pedals.

Ray gets a lot of stuff for free. That's not even a joke. Pretty much everything we own was gotten for free from somebody Ray knew. He just has a talent for that I guess.

He went out to help his brother and Uncle clear out some property and in the process was given an old moped that didn't run and had a giant list of things that were wrong with it. Why he thought it was a good find is beyond me.

Anyways...

So he takes it home but keeps it in the back of his truck overnight. In the morning, the thing was gone. I didn't even know any of this happened until three days later when he was telling his brother on the phone that it was gone. Thankfully Ray wasn't too bent out of shape about it, and I was just relieved I never had to deal with the thing. haha.

A couple days after that, Ray's Uncle calls him to ask him why the moped he gave him was listed on craigslist for $300 and throughout the day the asking price progressively lowered to around $150. Ray was just as much in the dark as his Uncle so he did some investigating because it was obvious that it was the same bike.

Ray sent a message in response to the ad and got a reply from a strange phone number that he figured came from one of those texting apps for iPods. The message told Ray to contact that person's Mom to schedule a time and get the address to check the moped out. Ray did just that.

Ray and I were planning on how to approach this. It was obvious that the person who "owned" the moped was a kid, and we were almost banking on the address that we would soon be given to be located within a block of us. Sure enough, the address was down the street! haha! At that time I needed to go to school, so I told Ray that it would be hilarious if he played it up with the kid like he was genuinely interested instead of going over there accusing the kid of stealing.

He packed up Warren to go with him and walked over to this address. As he was walking up the driveway he decided to voice record the entire thing. He set it up on his phone, put it in his front pocket of his flannel shirt and rang the doorbell.

Pretty awesome story so far, right?

Well, the kid answers the door. He's probably about 13 years old, and really small. There's no way he lugged that bike out of the back of Ray's truck alone. The poor kid was clearly lead on by someone that was bigger than him. The kid saw Warren on Ray's back and asks him if he walked there. Poor kid was getting suspicious. Ray kind of avoided the question and just said that he was out for a walk, which seemed to satisfy the kid's curiosity.

The kid takes Ray to the back yard where the moped is sitting and Ray pretends to be so excited about it. I listened to the recording and this is pretty much what happened.

Ray: That bike is sweet! How long have you had it?
Kid: Uhhhh... A couple weeks.
Ray: How much are you asking for it?
Kid: Well... I was asking $180, but I'll take $150 for it.
Ray: That sounds great! Can you go grab your Mom so that we can finalize the deal?
Kid: Yeah! I'll be right back!
*kid goes to get his mom and comes back with both his mom and his dad.*
Mom: So you're interested in this bike are you?
Ray: Yeah! I just have a couple questions about it though.
Mom: Sure.
Ray: How long has he had this bike?
Mom: Ummm... Probably about a week or two.
Ray: Huh. And where did he say he got it from?
Mom: I'm not really sure. He just brought it home one day.
Ray: Well that's interesting. I live about a block down the street and about a week ago I was given a bike just like this from my Uncle and it got stolen out of the back of my truck.
Mom: Huh. Stolen...
Ray: Yeah it had the same mileage, same missing seat, same broken fender...
*the mom and dad both give a death stare to the kid*
Mom: Where did you say you got this from again???
Kid: I found it!!!! It was on the sidewalk on the way home from school!!! I swear! I found it!!!
Mom: Uh huh..
Dad: It sounds like that bike is yours, man.
Kid: Mom! I swear!!! It was just there! I found it!!!
Mom: Yeah... Well... *looks at Ray* Wow well I think you just got your bike back for free.

This whole conversation. Recorded. Priceless!!!

The kid kept trying to convince his parents that he really did just find the bike on the sidewalk. Props for his conviction to the story. The Mom then asked Ray if he needed the kid to help walk the bike back home, but Ray said he had it under control and took it back home.

An hour or so later, there's a knock on our door. Ray went to answer it and it was the kid, with his two parents standing right behind him.

The kid handed Ray a note that said he was sorry and that he would never do it again and if he needed to pay him back, he would. HAHA!!! The parents were livid with the poor guy.

So because of this whole experience, Ray has taught the kid to never steal EVER AGAIN!!! Seriously. This poor kid will be telling this story for the rest of his life.

Moral of the story: Don't fall in to peer pressure (remember the bike was too big for the kid to take out the truck by himself), and don't steal!!!

I hope this story made your day a little bit brighter :)

My Best Friend's Wedding

I feel like I have gone to a lot of weddings in my life. This one though, was probably THE best wedding I have ever had the privilege of attending.

Allison and I became friends when we were 16 years old. At the time I was the ONLY girl my age at Church and it was a lonely place for me. One day out of the blue, this new girl and her family moved in and I wasn't alone anymore! We called ourselves Alison Squared. We are kind of awesome like that... We grew up and did our own things in life, but it didn't matter how long it had been since we'd seen each other. We would always just pick right back up where we left off. I served my mission, and she left for hers before I came home. I found an American boy, got married, and got pregnant. When I was stuck in Canada and my husband was stuck in Colorado waiting for immigration to come through. Allison and I picked up where we left off. She was fresh off her mission, back in University, and trying to figure life out again. I was just lonely again and she was there to save me once more.

I don't think I can properly describe how much her friendship means to me.

Anyways...

After I moved to Colorado, she contacted me and told me she wanted to Skype. I was super excited to talk to her!! Our conversation was nothing like any conversation I had ever had with her before though. She told me she tried online dating, and it worked. She found herself an American boy in California. Never had I seen her so excited about a boy. I was so happy for her!!! It was new for her, and she wanted to talk to me to get my perspective on long distance dating. I gave her all the advise I could. Later on she had decided to go visit him and see how things would go in person. She told me when she was planning on leaving and it turned out that I would be in Canada at that time. I was the lucky one to see her off at the airport as she began her international dating adventure.

A few months go by and we Skype again. "Are you engaged???" I ask her. "Uhhhh.... Well... Here's the thing..." She proceeded to tell me that technically they were engaged and they were currently sorting through their own immigration stuff to figure out how to make it all work as quickly and as smoothly as possible. They got an awesome immigration lawyer and that guy made it happen. She told me that they were planning on getting married on March 2 and that I should plan on being in Salt Lake City for it. I was ecstatic!!!

The weekend finally arrived, and Ray and I packed up our car with Warren and embarked on an all night drive to Utah. We wanted Warren to sleep as much as possible for the drive, hence the all nighter.

The sun was rising as we drove the final stretch and I was pretty impressed at the scenery. I don't remember Utah being so pretty. haha. We had wonderful friends open their home to us and when we got there at 9:00am, we both slept while they entertained our son.

That night, I attended Allison's bridal shower. It was a Canada reunion! So many people from home that I grew so close to as a Young Single Adult were there. It was so refreshing to see so many familiar faces from home.

During the shower I offered my help to the bridesmaid in charge of Allison's hair and makeup. That meant that I needed to be there to help bright and early the next morning.

Allison was probably the most calm bride I have ever seen. She was just sitting down while her hair was being curled, talking to people as they came in and out of her hotel room. We laughed and joked and went over final details. It was incredible. I was super impressed with her composure.

The sealing ceremony itself was so wonderful. There was such a sense of joy and happiness for Allison and her soon to be husband, Curtis. Both sides of the family were filled with so much love and excitement. I felt so privileged to be able to be in the midst of that pure, all encompassing love. I looked around the sealing room, seeing my husband smile at me in the mirror, and taking in all the small and intricate details of that room. I was so content. This is what we live for. Joy, family, and knowing that Heavenly Father is near.

After the ceremony we got out of the temple and waited around Temple Square for the big reveal. Ray and I  passed the time by talking with this awesome Sister missionary from France. Outside of the Temple the realization of how chaotic weddings in the Salt Lake City Temple are set in. There are SOOO many people there for so many different weddings that they have to have an intercom system to announce when each couple is exiting the Temple. haha. When they finally announced the "George Wedding" we rushed over to the doors and more happiness ensued.

They are such an adorable couple!!! I'm so happy for them!!!! The photographer was right on it and started taking all the family and friend pictures immediately. I snuck some of my own pictures in too.

Allison's big brother and his family had a pretty intense emergency just before they were planning on leaving Canada for the wedding. Last minute were not able to make it. Allison and her sister-in-law, Chelsea are super close so it was really hard on both of them to not be able to share this day together. We made sure we documented the bridal shower, wedding and reception as much as we could via Instagram so that Chelsea could be as much a part of that day as possible.

The reception itself was incredible. I really appreciated that it was shortly after the wedding. It's always awkward trying to figure out what to do when there are several hours between the wedding and reception. Anyways... It was in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and there was quite the view.

The Salt Lake City Temple is such a beautiful place. It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that it took 40 years to build with bare hands and no big machinery. It was finished in 1893. Every detail was carved into granite by people with incredible talent and a chisel. This Temple stands as a testament to the faith of those who built it. Every time I go there, I am filled with awe and a deep sense of gratitude for the sacrifice that it took to make this Temple a reality. Temples that are built today are still beautiful and still full of intricate details, but the fact that this one was done completely by hand, makes it a bit more special for me.

Back to the reception. Perfection. Delicious food. Classy cake and decorations. And butter balls for the rolls. haha.

As we ate, Allison's Mom did her final preparations for the Toast to the Bride.

Chelsea wrote the Toast. She was supposed to give it, but since she wasn't able to, Allison's Mom read it for her. She did such a good job. Before reading Chelsea's toast, she mentioned how she looked through Allison's baby book before they left for the wedding. She had written in it that if Allison were a  boy her middle name would have been George because it is a significant name in their family history. Now that Allison's married name is George, it's a great tender mercy and another testament to how perfect this marriage really is. I thought that was incredible.

As for Chelsea's toast. I can't even begin to sum that up. It had everyone in tears and was one of the most touching things I have ever heard. So you can read it.  Chelsea blogged it. 

Here's my favorite part, and what got everyone in the room misty eyed.

Life with Alli truly is full of her gift of excitement and enthusiasm 

But life isn't always a party. 

In fact, when I first began thinking about giving this toast the first phrase that came to mind was for Curtis---and it was "I'm sorry"

I'm sorry Curtis that you had to wait so long. I'm sorry you had to wait because The Lord just knew I needed her. 

Chelsea has a gift with words that I can only wish for. Even though I haven't really spent much time with her, I still really look up to her and appreciate her stories and her perspective that she so generously posts on her blog. No wonder why Allison loves her so much.

Another tear-filled toast for the groom, and it was time to cut the cake. Seriously I can't get over how cute this couple is.

Allison tossed the bouquet. The cutest bouquet toss ever, I might add. The way Allison looked behind her to see who would catch it was adorable. haha. Allison's joy translated into every move she made, and every word she said. I have seen her happy before, but this was just a new level of happy Allison. I loved it.

As things wound down, people were taking final pictures. This one cracks me up.

Allison was saying as this picture was being taken "Send this picture to my brothers on missions!!! HEHE!!!" I love her mischievous laugh. Really... I just love this girl. What a great day this was. Not just to be a part of the wedding, but it was also an amazing experience for Ray and I together. Weddings remind us of how awesome our marriage is and how thankful we are to be together. Ray enjoyed the wedding too. He didn't feel left out because it was my friend getting married. There was absolutely no flaw to this weekend. haha. And I had purple hair. haha.

So Allison, thank you for being my friend. Thank you for being such a wonderful part of my life. You have been there for me when I needed you and I hope I have done the same for you. I'm so glad you found Curtis and that your life together began with so much joy. You deserve this happiness. I love you so much!!!!!

Independence

Warren is OFFICIALLY 18 months old. That means two things to me.

1. We can no longer tag him along with us to things that WE want to do and expect our little man to just go along with it. We have to do things for HIM now.

2. He is old enough to go to Nursery at Church now so we can actually begin learning things there again. haha.

I spend a lot of time at home with Warren throughout the week, so I decided that I wanted to use our weekends as a family to get out of the house and go to new places and teach Warren new things. Attempt #1: The Denver Aquarium.

Okay so maybe I chose that because I wanted to go... But having a curious child makes adventures like that totally pass as something specifically for the kid right?

Saturday's are our only full day of the week to go out do things as a family. When we arrived at the Aquarium, I was reminded that we aren't the only family with just Saturday's to do fun things. There were SO MANY PEOPLE!!! When we got in and saw all the fish, or "doggies" as Warren likes to call them, all he wanted to do was get out of his stroller and explore on his own. We let him out and he was off! So many things for that brain of his to absorb!

The kid wouldn't stop! I couldn't get a clear picture of him if my life depended on it!

From my mommy perspective, I don't think I have ever been so stressed out trying to keep up with him through the crowds of other families. He would walk from one display to the other, seeing how far he could go, and what things he could touch. I tried to do my best at enjoying the moment though. There were, after all, some pretty spectacular things. Purple starfish, a one eyed giant white kind of fish (haha), Nemo in an Anemone, and sweet jellyfish!

I'm so thankful for how much of a help Ray was. He played with Warren and helped him see all sorts of things that were out of his little reach.

We all had tons of fun. Warren loved his freedom and I tried to accomodate that.

Family fun day was a success!!!

Life

I keep on having the thought that I need to write. It's been a while. I used to be diligent. Then my baby turned into a toddler and life got a lot busier. Here's the breakdown of the past few months.

My little man started walking and he also became quite the little trickster. He found a bag of marshmallows, realized it was open, took it around the corner where I couldn't see him, dumped the bag and started eating them one by one.

We were homeless for two weeks. It was a freak circumstance. Our lease for our apartment was up and we didn't want to renew so we found a new place. Moving day came, we packed up, opened the door to our new place and it was trashed. Food still in the fridge, a bowl under the kitchen sink catching the leaking water, crap paint job, stained carpet, etc. Just a mess. We were shown a different apartment prior to signing the lease and told that the one we would be renting was just like this one, but the layout was mirror imaged. Well.. that was a lie. Getting shown a different apartment is normal, right? We didn't think anything of it. After a whole bunch of hoopla with a lack lustre property owner, we finally gave up trying to get answers from the guy and told him he broke the terms of our lease before we even moved in and we wanted our money back. He complied and we were out of the lease. We were also out of a home... We packed up the rest of our stuff and stored it at the lot Ray was conveniently renting at the time. We have good people in our life though. Our Uncle Mike and his wife took us in for the two weeks it took to find a new place. This new apartment was kitty corner from the original place we were going to move into. Different property manager though. Better property manager. We are really happy here.

Since I'm super smart at school, I was invited to go with other students to represent Paul Mitchell at the Dew Tour in Breckenridge, CO. Holy moly that was fun. I got to spend a whole weekend away with friends having a blast in the mountains.

At the Dew Tour we were specifically promoting the Mitch mens line. Mustaches are the logo so we gave away sticker mustaches. I made it a personal goal to give them to children because they got the most excited about them and looked the cutest. This little girl was my favorite. I told her to smile and this is what I got. haha!

Here's the other mustache kidlets.

While I was gone, Ray got some quality time in with our son though. They both loved it. Also, Ray grew a beard...ish. :P

Warren got another haircut. He didn't appreciate it anymore than the last time...

We also got fish. Ray had a grand plan to set up a hydroponics system. Essentially, you have a fish tank, you pump water into a bin that is full of clay beads with plants in them. The byproduct of the fish pumps with the water, into the bin of plants which nourishes them, and the water drains back into the fish tank. The plants produce chemicals that regulate the water for the fish and it becomes its own little ecosystem. It was a rough start, but we got it all set up and we have a singular strawberry plant growing. haha. It's actually pretty awesome. Warren also loves the fish.

 My Dad came to visit for a week. He wanted to explore the Colorado mountains so we took a day to travel to Glenwood Springs. Dad wanted to just sit in the super hot water, so Ray and I went to play in the still warm but not scalding water. I love being in warm water when it's cold outside. I highly recommend going to hot springs in the winter. Ray discovered that he sinks and can't float. At all. I discovered the opposite. I can't sink. haha. They had the diving board open and Ray became a kid again. He jumped off that thing countless times. hahaha. I love him so much.

Warren got sick. Miserably sick. Poor kid. He got over it though and got back to his normal self relatively quick.

 I've introduced reading while on the toilet to my boy. haha. So far I've had zero success with the whole potty training thing though. At least I'm instilling good habits early right??

I accomplished something I never thought I would even attempt. The Manitou Incline. 2600+ steps straight up. I thought to myself how much of an idiot I was for being willing to do this countless times throughout the whole climb. I made it to the top though. A minimal amount of satisfaction came from it. When I got to the top, all I wanted was to be at the bottom again. That, unfortunately, was a 4 mile hike down a different treacherous and icy path. The point is that I made it, right? I think I'll stick the the gym from now on. I like it better there.

My little brother is with us for an extended stay. He's trying to figure life out post-mission. Oh yeah. My little brother is a return missionary. He rounded us out and made it 3 for 3. Three siblings, three missions. We're awesome. Warren is loving having his Uncle here. He's way cooler than us parents.

So... The last few months of my life in a nutshell. I'm still in love with my husband (haha), I'm still amazed at the awesomeness of my son and I still have the best family ever.