Chris’s Birthday!!

Chris celebrated his 26^th birthday on the 3^rd and I was lucky enough to have work off and we enjoyed spending the day together.  I wish I was able to do more to show my husband how much he is loved and appreciated.  When I asked him what he wanted to do, he said just wanted to hang out at home with me and Tyler and veg out, so that is exactly what we did.  Chris is a very hard person to shop for because when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, his reply was, “I don’t know, I don’t really need anything”.  So, I was kind of on my own for ideas of what to get him.  He has been telling me for sometime that he wanted another pair of nice sunglasses, and I always found an excuse not to get them.  But birthdays are for spoiling, so that’s what he got with some basketball and casual shorts.  I knew I did a good job of surprising him with a gift he liked because he actually smiled when he opened his present!  He doesn’t show too much emotion, but I cracked him this time!!  Since Chris is the main cook at our house, we went out to dinner at Olive Garden which was very yummy and came home to enjoy strawberry cheesecake I had made.  Chris does so much for our family and I am so appreciate of all his hard work and sacrifice.  He never complains about watching Tyler while I sleep before or after I work.  He is always willing to change a diaper, even the poopy ones.  He continues to be so thoughtful and giving.  On several occasions I will come home from work and express how tired my legs are, and Chris will come in and rub my legs or feet.  He is the most unselfish person I know and I love him so much.  He is truly my best friend and I look forward to the many birthdays I get to celebrate with him.  I love you Chris! We are also very happy and excited to have Tyler's blanket that Grandma Brogan did for him. He really enjoys sleeping with it.

Halloween!

As everyone knows, my mom is very into Halloween and this year, our family was able to participate in helping her with it.  Our family decided to dress up as “Woody’s Roundup”, with Chris as none other than Woody, me as Jessi and Tyler as Buzz Lightyear, and quite a cute one I might addJ  Our main focus this year was the Haunted House.  Chris was a huge help in getting it all set up, the only hard part was remembering that it was for children, not for adults so he had to try and tone down the scariness of it.  It was a hit though!  Grandma and Grandpa Cluff dressed up as Lily and Herman Munster for the theme of “Monsters”.  The grandkids didn’t really understand who Grandma was but after they watched the video Grandma bought them of “The Munsters”, they understood her costume much better.  They were all very impressed with Grandpa’s costume though!  Mom always does such a good job of finding costumes for her and dad that go with the theme of her party.

What party would be complete without games?!  And yes, mom is amazing and thought of games that went with her theme of monsters.  She had the kids make each other into mummies which they really enjoyed.  They also had more fun games and of course, a craft.  I am amazed at everything mom does to make Halloween a fun time for the grandkids and remember Doyle.  Even though Halloween could have become her most dreaded holiday, she has made it lots of fun for each of the families and made lasting memories.  We had so much fun helping with the party preparations and have so much appreciation for all the hard work mom does to make Halloween fun for everyone.  Love you mom, and thank you for all you do for us!

GrAdUaTeD!!!!

      Yes, I am finally done with my BSN!!! I know it was only 15 months, but it is such a relief to finally have it done and over with and enjoy the thought that I won't have to write any more papers!  My final class is the one where we have to write a capstone over the five week period and mine ended up being 40 pages, yes, quite a relief to be done.  Can't wait for my diploma to come in the mail so I can nail it on the wall next to Chris's degree:-)  And yes, I took a picture of my final project that I turned in, Chris asked me why I took a picture of my assignment and I told him I worked hard on it and I want to remember all my hard work lol, so here it is.

 

      I have started working in Post-Partum and I am loving it!  It is a very different atmosphere from Med-Surg and I think that is why I like it so much.  I love getting work with new mothers and the babies.  It makes me realize how large Tyler was when he was born because those babies seem so tiny!  Even though I feel overwhelmed at times with all the things I have to learn in a new department, I am really loving the change.  I am a little sad because I have to work Christmas Eve this year, which isn't too bad but I worked Christmas last year so I was looking forward to not having to work it this year.  But at least it is when Tyler is smaller and won't quite remember too much of it besides the wrapping paper.
      Since we have such an awesome family, we have been sorting through clothes and getting winter clothes out for Tyler and we came across some hats that Becky had given us.  I didn't think Tyler would leave them on his head, but he didn't try to them off once.  And since he was so cute in the hats, we put him in one for church.  I think the hats so are so cute and want to thank Becky for her shopping addiction and letting us benefit from it!!!

      These other pictures are some I took after Chris was playing with Tyler and his burp rag.  i was amazed that Tyler didn't even try and take it off once, just sat there and laughed.  He is such a good baby and we are really enjoying all the milestones he is making.  He brings so much joy into our lives.

      This last week was filled with family visitors!  We got to have Kristen, Matt and Maliya last weekend and then Chris's mom came up Monday to Wednesday.  It was so fun to see her and get to visit.  I wish we lived closer so we would be able to see family a little more often but we will take what we can get!  I am so sad I didn't get a picture of Tyler with my grandparents and my Aunt Dwanna.  They came down to visit from Utah and stopped by to see us for a few hours.  We enjoyed yummy lasagna made by Chris and then were treated to pazookies by my parents from Oreganos.  It was so much fun to visit with them.  We wanted to make a trip down to Safford but with the Halloween party so close and me having to follow someone else's schedule at work, this worked out to be an easier way for us to see and spend time with them.  We are so grateful to have such a wonderful family that we get to see and spend time with.

3 months old!

      So I meant to post when Tyler was 3 months old on the 15th of September, but now is is almost 4 months old!  Oh how time flies!!!  But he is growing up so fast and we are having so much fun with him.  We have him on video laughing with Chris and it just melts my heart to watch it.  He surprised me on September 9th when I was playing with him on the floor and he rolled over all by himself!  I didn't think he was old enough to do that, but he was.  And now he seems to roll over as soon as you put him on the ground.  He hasn't learned to roll from his stomach to his back yet, but I think he will be happier when he learns to do that.
      We are finally to the point where he is starting to sleep through the majority of the night, of course, he has had some help learning to do that.  Before, our schedule was going to bed at 11 pm, and waking up at 3, 4, and 5 am and then up for good at 7.  He wouldn't really nap well during the day, just little cat naps here and there.  I knew newborns didn't sleep much, but it didn't seem like it was getting better like it should.  So after talking to my cousins, they told me about a book I should read that really helped with their babies.  So of course I was willing to try anything and this book as been a lifesaver!  Not that life was terrible before, but it is so much better when you have sleep.  Tyler now takes two pretty good naps and goes to bed at 9 and wakes up around 5 to eat and sleeps until 8.  Life is wonderful!  I feel bad because I don't rock him to sleep like I imagined doing with my babies, but teaching him to sleep on his own has really improved his sleeping habits which has been so nice for me.
      Chris has not heard regarding PA school yet and so he has implemented his plan B and applied for nursing school for NAU in Tucson and filled out his application for the U of A.  We won't know for sure about PA or NAU until the end of the year, and if neither of those work out he will apply to the U of A for the nursing program.  He is taking two online classes right now and regular class at Chandler Gilbert.  He is also working part time designing and fixing websites for Veridian Health Management and continues to be amazing dad and husband.  The other day, I woke up to find that he had taken Tyler and done the grocery shopping for me and put all the groceries away.  This meant he had gone to three different stores in addition to finishing the menu for the week.  He continues to make amazing meals, I truly don't know how I got such an amazing husband!
      For me, I am excited that I will soon be done with school, two weeks and counting!  I will graduate with my Bachelor's Degree in Nursing.  I started the program last August and even though it was tempting to take a break after I had Tyler, I am glad I didn't because I am so close to being done.  Another exciting development is a job offer I got from Post-Partum at Chandler Hospital!  I have been trying to get into another department for the last two years, but nothing has happened.  Not saying that I am ungrateful because I have a job, which is more than a lot of people can say in these hard times and the job I have has been really great.  However, I have worked in Med-Surg for 4 years and I am ready for a change.  I am hoping by working in post-partum it will help me to eventually switch into Labor and Delivery or the nursery.  I am very excited for this new opportunity and I am excited to learn new things.
      Me and Chris are really enjoying parenthood.  Tyler is such a happy baby and so much fun to play with.  I love the days when I can just sit on the floor and talk and play with him.  He has discovered his feet and hands and is continually putting them in his mouth.  And of course he is drooling like crazy.  Chris took him to Weeblos the other night and Tyler had an explosion!  I mean, he not only got his pants, but shirt, and carseat!  Bad thing was he didn't have a change of clothes in the diaper bag so I had to run a change of clothes to Chris before I went into work.  But is so much fun.  Today at church this older gentleman came up to me and asked if I was the mother of that cute baby.  I answered yes hesitantly because I didn't know if he was talking about my baby or someone else's ha ha!  But he in fact was talking about Tyler, he then asked if he was the first baby and I replied yes.  He then told me that I need to have several more because Tyler is so cute and I have to agree that he is adorable!  Think me and Chris will wait a little while before having another one though:-) 

Birthday!!!

      So I am officially a quarter of a century old!  I am an old, married mother and loving every minute of it.  Chris made me breakfast and served it on our “special” plate.  It is a red plate that was given to us for our wedding, with a note telling us about a tradition that was started in their family, which is any time it was a birthday or a special day, that person had their food served on the “special” plate.  I love the tradition and look forward to getting my food on the special plateJ Chris then made me a cake, yellow with chocolate frosting, one of my favorites.  He gave me the sweetest letter, and then continued to pamper me all day.  We had talked about going out to dinner for my birthday, but for some reason he said he wanted to go out Saturday instead.  I thought that was weird, because my birthday was Friday, my “special” day, why would we wait till Saturday?  But I didn’t push and said that was ok.  We decided to try a new restaurant, Brio, because his aunt had told us that the food was delicious.  So, we got ready and were about to leave, but I decided to feed Tyler before we left so he would be good while we ate dinner.  But while I was feeding him, Chris started to grill me saying, “how long does it take you to feed him?  How long does he eat on each side?  Why don’t you just feed him on one side?”  I finally asked him why he was grilling me, and he simply said, “I don’t know how long it takes you feed him, I’ve never timed it”.  Again, I thought this was weird, but didn’t push it.  So, we finally get away to dinner and as we are walking up to the restaurant, I see Jason and Drea sitting outside of it.  I was thinking, “How fun, they are eating here too, we should eat together!”  I say to Chris, “How fun, there’s Jason and Drea”, and he said, “I know”.  I then realized, duh, it’s a surprise!      Took me a little while to catch on, but Chris did a superb job of surprising me.  Dinner was so much fun, Jason and Drea are a blast to hang out and visit with.  Drea gave me the prettiest bracelet, and I love it so much!  After dinner, Jason treated us to ice-cream at one of my favorite places, Coldstone!  Loved eating my favorite treat with some of my favorite people! 

      Tyler is growing up so fast!  He will be two months old this Wednesday.  He is starting to smile so much, and it’s not just gas anymoreJ  He can follow things with his eyes and will stand up when you hold his hands.  He is sleeping so good at night.  Last night he slept from 11 pm to 6:30 am, I mean, who does that!  Me and Chris are really enjoying parenthood and I am dreading going back to work because I know it will require me to be away from Tyler.  I am hoping to get a job in a either post-partum or Labor and Delivery, but positions have not been available, and when they have, I never seem to get the job.  But everything happens for a reason and I need to trust that Heavenly Father has a better plan than I do.  We are still waiting to hear about if Chris will get into PA school and where.  Plan B is for him to apply to the nursing program in Flagstaff, so we will see what ends up happening in our future.  All I know is I am so lucky to have Chris and Tyler in my life!  They bring me so much happiness to my life.

Trip to Safford

      A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to Safford and spent a week there.  It was so much fun to spend time with my family and just relax!!!  We got there Tuesday evening and just visited with my parents.  Wednesday me and Chris were able to go to the Gila Valley Temple while my mom babysat Tyler.  It was so nice to be in the temple with Chris, it had been a few months since we had been and it was such a great reminder to me of how important it is to go on a regular basis.  I know temple work is important, but the peace and comfort it gave me was the biggest reminder to me why it is so important.

      Thursday, me and Chris planned a “family night” with Amy and Dustin’s family.  It was our Christmas present to them to have a pizza making night; however, with the pregnancy and school, we hadn’t had the chance to do it.  So, we took advantage of the time we had.  It was so much fun to watch the kids design their own pizzas.  Jared said to his parents, “We are making a mess!” because they were rolling out the pizza dough.  I have to say that Katelynn’s pizza was the “prettiest”, but all the kids enjoyed it.

     

      After making pizzas, we broke out the Xbox Kinect and that was such a blast!!!  It was pretty chaotic but the kids enjoyed it so much.  Ashley was so cute because she didn’t realize that you didn’t have to keep your hands above your head the whole time in order to play.  We were even able to capture Amy and Dustin competing against each other in the hurdles, I do believe that Amy won that round!

      Friday me and Chris just hung out at mom’s house.  Kamala and Chad came out and played the Xbox with us that night and Kamala definitely got into the game.  So much, that she broke my mom’s light in her fan as she was trying to “spike” the volleyball.  It was a lot of fun to visit with her and catch up.  Her little boy is getting to big and is oh so cute!

      Saturday me, mom, dad and Tyler took a trip to Sherwood Forest to see Grandpa Bill and Cheryl, who were down for the Sherwood Reunion.  It was a long trip but Tyler did so good!  I loved being able to see grandpa and Cheryl and visit with them.  We sure miss having grandpa so close and giving him all of our projects!

      Sunday, we attempted to take pictures of Tyler with Aunt Becky again because he was so grouchy the first time.  Well, the second time was a little better than the first, but not by much!  But Becky is AmAzInG and still got some really cute pictures.  She was awesome and even let us come back on Monday, which turned out to be a better day for Tyler to take pictures and he was a little more cooperative!

      

 

I love these pictures!  Thank you Becky for doing such an amazing job!!!

       

       Monday, we headed back to Chandler and took Kaely Sue and Brynlee back with us for a little visit.  Tifani’s back has really been giving her trouble, so we offered to take some kids back with us to give her a break.  Kaely Sue was such a big help and we really enjoyed having her!  Chris took her shopping and she had a sleepover at Megan’s house, which was a break she was probably ready for.

Happy Anniversary!

Two year anniversary!!

      Last Friday we celebrated our 2nd year anniversary!  Crazy to think how our lives have changed over the last two years.  Chris has graduated with his Bachelor's Degree in  Health Promotion, I am about to graduate with my BSN in October and we have entered the world of parenthood!!!  This year's anniversary was a little different than last year because we had to revolve our schedule around our little man:-)  We decided with the new expenses of a baby, presents were not necessary this year and decided to celebrate by going out to dinner, just the two of us.  Our biggest dilemma was not finding a babysitter but deciding where to eat!  Aunt Wendy had offered to watch Tyler, so the sitter was the easy part, but neither of us could decide where to go.  After driving around for half an hour, we decided to eat at Serranos Mexican food.  Can't say it was as good as my favorite Casa Mannana, but the food was still very good. 
      I have left Tyler with Chis at the house while I ran errands, so I really didn't think I would be one of those parents that had a hard time leaving their baby because I had already done it.  However, leaving him with someone besides Chris was so much harder than I thought it would be!  I have total trust in Aunt Wendy and knew he was in the best hands, but it really surprised me how much I missed the little guy when we left and how excited I was to see and hold him when I got back.  I feel so blessed that when I do have to go back to work, Chris will be the one I leave him with.  Chris is so good with him and Tyler really loves his dad.  He is getting to the phase when he will smile when you "baby talk" to him and kind of laughs.  He has also decided that he doesn't like to be laid down when he naps.  The little stinker will sleep for hours if you hold him, but only stays asleep for 20 minutes once you put him down.  But I am grateful that I have him here to hold in my arms and maybe he is just reminding me of how lucky I am to have such a wonderful, healthy little boy. 
      Now to brag about my husband!  The last two years have been an amazing journey and I am continually amazed at how lucky I am to have married the best man ever.  It has been so much fun for us to both be able to be home together with Tyler these first few weeks of his life and experience parenthood together.  Chris has been so patient with me as I am experiencing the withdrawl of all those wonderful pregnancy hormones and is so supportive.  He has never turned down a diaper change, even a dirty one.  He makes the most amazing food and never complains that I don't cook like most wives.  He is such a wonderful dad and it is so much fun to watch him and Tyler together.  Today in sunday school he had Tyler on his lap and was getting him to smile and lets just say Tyler had all the attention of the sunday school class.  Thank you Chris for all you do and for being so amazing!

Our little family