5 Things that make me most happy

5 Things that make me most happy right now.

1.     Everett-How couldn’t this little man make me the happiest woman in the world? When I’m away from him I feel home sick. It still blows my mind how I could instantly love someone I’ve never met. He’s the puzzle piece I never knew I was missing.

2.     Ben-He puts up with my crazy personality. He’s my best friend and he makes me want to be a better person for our family. When I see him with Rhett, it makes me love him more. He’s an awesome dad (which is the most attractive trait about him).

3.     Koda (our dog)-Even though he hasn’t had as much attention as he used to get, he still loves us unconditionally. He’s great with Rhett and follows me anywhere I take him. You can see it on his face that he’s just waiting for Rhett to start playing with him.

4.     My family-They have been so supportive and I couldn’t have gone through my pregnancy and these past few months without them. I wish I could see them more. Three of my brothers haven’t met Rhett yet, so I can’t wait until they see their nephew.

5.     My job(s)-My favorite job is staying at home with Rhett 5 days a week. It’s such a blessing. Though sometimes I want to go crazy, I am glad I get to raise my baby. I am also very grateful to be able to leave the house two days a week and be challenged at the hospital (and have adult interaction). 

8 Things I Would Tell My 16 Year Old Self, if I Could

It was originally 10 things but I could only think of 8

1.     Enjoy sports, especially volleyball. It’s going to be one of the only things you’ll miss about high school.

2.     Don’t worry about what other girls think of you. You won’t even care in a few years, so don’t put that pressure on yourself.

3.     Learn how to do the laundry! If not, you’ll be blogging about how you had to call your mom to talk you through your first load of laundry in college.

4.     Spend more time with Colton! There are years in high school where you slack on your end of the friendship. You’ll miss that time later.

5.     Try cooking a little more. You’ll find you do enjoy it!

6.     Ask mom to teach you to sew a little. If not, you’ll go years without wearing a few pairs of pants because the hem fell out.

7.     Quit judging others, especially girls! Learn to encourage and support other women.

8.     Eat healthier!

16 years old

Describe the Relationship With Your Spouse

Ben and I met when we were 15 years old at our church youth group. I was friends with his sister first, and didn’t even know they were brother and sister for about a month-you know how teenagers are! I should note that they have a much closer relationship now.

He was one of those guys who didn’t care what other people thought about him. Some of his friends were what some people might have viewed as "different", but Ben has always taken time to know people before he judged them. If you've never had a chocolate milk drinking contest, you're not hanging out with the right people (you boys know who you are!) We were friends for a long time before we started dating.

Ben asked me out on December 30^th. The first time we held hands, we were watching “The League of Extraordinary Gentleman”. Our first kiss was on Easter, after a trip to a Mexican orphanage with our youth group.

We’ve overcome big hurdles. When we started dating, we lived in different towns and only saw each other on the weekends. Being in different grades, Ben left for college in Boise when I was a senior in high school. In college, Ben went to Army basic training in Missouri (or Misery as he called it), for 3 months where I only received about 10 or less phone calls and some letters, which I still have to this day. And then in our 4^th(?) year of marriage he left for a yearlong deployment to Iraq. These things have made us a strong couple. It was so difficult but we made it!

Even though we’ve been together since we were teenagers, we are constantly trying to communicate and work on our relationship. It’s important to keep getting to know each other. Each day is work and I love it. And now we have this amazing baby boy and I am so glad we share him and have added “parent” to our list of jobs. Ben is my best friend and I couldn’t imagine being married to anyone else. I love you Benjamin!

Just friends (2003)

My high school graduation. We'll finally live in the same down in the fall! (2006)

Engagement Picture (2006)

The first time I've seen him in 3 months, his last day of basic training (2007)

Our wedding day (2007)

Vacation before leaving for Iraq (2010) 

Army Christmas party, family photo (2012)

3 Fears

3 Legitimate fears and how they became fears.

1. That I will be a bad mother/parent. Obviously this fear surfaced when I became a mother. I know children have their own personalities, but I truly believe the core fundamentals of a child’s morals are learned from the parents.

2. Lateness. I hate being late. Even when I’m less than 5 minutes early, I feel like I’m late and I get anxious. If I get somewhere really early, I’ll just sit in my car a little while. Where I got this fear, I don’t know. I was always really early for school as a child and even to high school.

3. Someone breaking in my house, intending to hurt me. I never thought of this until I married Ben. This fear has only intensified since my son was born. I’ve spend hours thinking about what I would do if an intruding broke into my house. Where would I hide my son? Would I grab a weapon and defend myself? Etc, Etc, Etc. 

20 Random Facts About Myself

1.   I am left handed, and so are a few other family members. My dad is, some siblings, and my dad’s siblings.

2.   As mama’s little girl, I was very spoiled. I’m ashamed to admit it but I never did laundry until I went to college. My first load of laundry, I had to call my mom and have her walk me through it.

3.   Surprisingly, laundry is my favorite “chore” to do. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll be learning to do laundry WAAAY before college!

4.   When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a botanist (study plants), and an astronomer (study stars). Later I found out that I was never very good at science!

5.   Growing up, I lived with a lot of different family members. Uncle Jere and Caleb grew up in Chinook, Uncle Jeff and Jon occasionally stayed. My cousins lived with us for a little while. And eventually, everyone moved out and I felt like an only child.

6.   While daddy was deployed to Iraq, I painted my nails about every other day to keep myself preoccupied. It turned into a tiny obsession.

7.   I love to shop… but I’m cheap… but I hate chasing sales.

8.   In high school, I shared a birthday with about 4 kids (out of the less than 200 in the school) and in college I shared it with 2 others.

9.   My favorite color is green, but my favorite color for my nails are pink (red for my toes).

10.   I find it so gratifying to harmonize with a good singer; it gives me goosebumps!

11.  The biggest thing I miss about high school is sports teams. I frequently dream about being back on a team.

12.   Speaking of dreams: I remember a LOT of my dreams.

13.    One of my favorite things is to sneeze. I love the satisfaction I get from a good sneeze!

14.    Even though I hate scary movies, every once in awhile I get a hankering to watch one (at home so I can fast forward if it gets too intense!)

15.   I always have at least one bad habit. Old habits include: biting my nails, biting my lips, biting the inside of my cheeks.

16.  Strangely, I can remember a lot of things from when I was very very little. Some of my first vivid memories are from when I was two years old.

17.   It kills me inside if something is unfair. Even as a kid, if other kids were cheating at games I would get very upset.

18.   My favorite subjects in school were English, year book, and pottery.

19.  When I was a kid I used to love eating purple cabbage and green peppers.

20.   Water activities dislike my head. I’ve been thrown into a pool and hit my head on the bottom. Someone threw a bucket full of water at my head while white water rafting. And I blacked out when I connected heads with a friend while falling off a jet-ski. 

30 things my kid(s) should know about me.

Let me start by saying: I am NOT pregnant again. I say kid(s) knowing that I would like Everett to have a sibling some day.

OK back to the show folks!

I found this really neat blog today: www.babymakingmachine.com. She started doing this "30 things my kids should know about me" post. By doing 30 posts, she hopes her kids will some day read her blog and know what she was going through that time of her life. I decided to also take part! I'm realistic and know that I cannot do 30 posts in 30 days. Heck, I don't know if I can finish a post in a day (as Everett is currently sleeping on my chest-he received some shots at his appointment today). 

Here is the list that I will be following:

1. List 20 random facts about yourself.
2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.
3. Describe your relationship with your spouse.
4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.
5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?
6. If you could have three wishes, what would you wish for?
7. What is your dream job, and why?
8. What are 5 passions you have?
9. People who have influenced you and describe how.
10. Describe your most embarrassing moment.
11. Describe 10 pet peeves you have.
12. Describe a typical day in your current life.
13. What’s the hardest part of growing up?
14. Describe 5 and weaknesses strengths you have.
15. Describe when you knew your spouse was the one or how I fell in love.
16. What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?
17. What is the thing you most wish you were great at?
18. What do you think your spouse loves most about you?
19. How did you feel the moment you became a parent?
20. Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood.
21. Describe your relationship with your parents.
22. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
23. What’s your favorite holiday and why?
24. What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about parenthood?
25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?
26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?
27. What is your favorite part of your body and why?
28. What’s your favorite quality in your spouse?
29. What are your hopes and dreams for your prosperity?
30. List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.

Coming soon... 20 Random facts about me

Life up to 6 Weeks

Everett is six weeks today! Every day he is changing and growing. I can't believe it!

Our first couple of days home, my parents were able to stay with us. It was great but we were very happy to have spent time alone with him, getting to know him. Thankfully, Ben was able to take almost a full month off! During this time, we got to know each other.

Rhett taught us how to put on a diaper correctly (there are tons of dirty onesees to prove our mistakes), he also taught us not to expect any sort of routine at first. Before having our child, Ben and I were convinced that we could create a schedule but we learned quick that our lives now revolve around this boy. Also in the first few weeks, we were able to travel to the high line for Thanksgiving to visit family. Travel was successful, Rhett enjoys sleeping in his car seat.

In December, my mom, Lu Ann, was able to come and stay with us for over a week. With her help, we were able to convince Rhett to sleep during the night. Mom was very enthusiastic about burping and changing diapers. She even stayed up with him during some fussy hours of the night. I was able to shower, blow dry my hair, put on makeup, and change out of sweats! This was a great luxury. And lucky for me, she was here when I got sick!

I had a week alone with Rhett before my dad got here (oh boy is it tough!). Ben's parents were just here and were able to spend a little time cuddling him. And now Rhett is laughing, talking, and giggling. It is so much fun! His gummy smile melts my heart. He even has a dimple!

So this is a quick update. Sorry it's been awhile. It's funny how a little baby needs so much of your time. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Day 1

 Week 6