A Sunny St.George Afternoon

I would like to paint a picture for you.

It is a beautiful afternoon in St. George, Utah.

I am sitting here in my pajamas, eating semi-sweet chocolate chips on peanut butter, 

caramel, and apples.

I'm watching You've Got Mail on TV,

And playing with Rex.

 Rex now has clothes on,

It's actually his 2nd outfit...

(minor blow-out earlier).

Sometimes I like to keep him in his diaper,

So I can blow on his tummy,

and make him giggle.

Matt is upstairs working,

but he comes down frequently to visit us.

He actually made me this yummy apple snack.

We are playing with Rex's giraffe and colored link chain.

He is such a fun, bubbly, giggly baby.

He is 3 months old now and is getting chubbier every day.

{{15 minutes later}}

I've been playing with Rex for a while and I can tell he's getting crabby.

I bring Rex upstairs so Matt can super-swaddle him.

(Rex is an escape-artist and still scratches his face).

After Matt has swaddled him,

I lay him down in his rock-n-play,

(which he prefers over his crib),

Give him his pacifier,

And lay him down for a nap.

You see, I'm the mean mom who lets him cry for a minute

or two,

until he falls asleep.

Typically he just knows to nap and doesn't fuss much.

He is the "nap-master".

His night time routine is pretty awesome too.

Around 7:00pm he starts to get a little grouchy.

I nurse him.

We bath him.

We dress him.

8:00pm we 'top-him-off' with formula.

(I've been supplementing him with it once a day).

Enter in Matt's super-swaddle, 

his daily dose of Zantac (1 ml) for reflux,

his giraffe sound machine (heart-beat noise), 

pacifier, and he's out.

Lately he's been sleeping from

 8:30pm-3:00am/4:00am/5:00am-ish.

I nurse him.

He's out another 3.5 hours.

Since we've moved to St. George,

we've taken him to the pool a couple of times.

Let's just say he's getting used to the idea. 

He's one happy 3-month-old kid.

We are some lucky parents.

He even watches SportsCenter with Matt,

when we go to AppleBee's on a date.

Last weekend we took him to the Zoo.

Blog post pending...
But for now,
It feels so amazing being here--home--
in Sunny St. George.

A Sad Dog Post

I'm going to blog about something that 98% of you will think is...

Pathetic, hormonal and weird.

But I can't help but notice how heavy my heart has been for 3 weeks,

And I want to write about it.

3 weeks ago in a moment of weakness I got rid of my dog Lucy.

At the time I had convinced myself that she had fulfilled her purpose.

At the time I thought she was getting to be too much to handle.

Too be honest, she was seriously getting on my nerves.

But I sold Lucy for a measly $200 and it was a big mistake.

There were several reasons I decided to get rid of her.

*She wasn't getting the attention she deserved

*She was unsure of Rex and was getting nippy with him

*She messed on my bed in the middle of the night

*She went for an half-hour long leisurely stroll and...

*She stopped coming when I called for her 

**Basically, she was having some difficultly adjusting to the baby...
and I was ignoring her**

All of these 'reasons' happened in the span of 3 days...

*While Matt was out of town

*While I was short-on-sleep

*While we were packing the house to move

*While I was grouchy

**While I had seriously lost my mind!**

I can't help but think if I had been a little more patient,

Would I still have my little companion who...

*Slept by me at night

*Followed me around the house

*Barked at everything/everyone = protector

*Ate my food while I wasn't looking

*Napped next to Rex 

*Hid dog-bones in the couch cushions

*Chased ducks at the park

*Licked our wounds

*Sat by me each time I threw up during my pregnancy 

So I am seriously missing my dog Lucy.

She went to a new home to a new family who loves her.

I know life is a little simpler without her...

But I sure do miss her. 

And I wish I could just stop thinking about her.

You just don't get rid of 'family' when things get a little tough...

And I've been kicking myself everyday. 

So there you have it, my biggest regret of 2012.

A Young Family In Need

I Just Read About This Young Family,

Who Lost Their Mother A Week After She Gave Birth...

Leaving Behind A Husband, Two Little Boys and a Newborn Daughter.

http://www.honeybeevintage.com/2012/05/alice-hansen-family-fund.html

If You Can Donate, Please Do--

In Honor of a Mother Who Died Too Soon. 

Reflecting On Mother's Day

{Lengthy Post}

Two days ago I celebrated my very first Mother's Day as a 'Mom'.

Matt spoiled me rotten and treated me like a queen.

He always has a way of making me feel so special even though...

*I'm often times covered in spit-up,

*I don't have time to shower every day,

*I watch obnoxious TV shows,

*I still cry over the humane society pet commercials.

He truly is a wonderful Husband and Father. 

While sitting at my Grandpa/Grandma Ottesen's house on Sunday,

I started thinking about all the 'Moms' out there.

There are different types of Mothers out there...

There are wonderful Mothers out there, 

Who, like my own Mom has always put her family first.

My Mom has a kind word for everyone and she is friends with everyone.

I'm not kidding--

My Mom is on a first name basis with

 Bankers, cashiers, grocery store clerks and butchers.

My Mom takes charge when life gets a little chaotic. 

My Mom always lends an ear when you need her to,

Or holds your kid when you just can't take it anymore.

I Love My Mom.

There are Moms out there who've had to make a difficult choice.

I'm talking about the women out there who found themselves...

Pregnant, young, single, alone, and scared...

And they decided to give their baby a chance by giving them up.

After carrying Rex for 9 months and feeling him grow each day,

I could never imagine giving him up.

That is true bravery. 

I commend those women for choosing life over the 'easy-way-out'. 

There are Future Mothers who yearn for their chance to bring life into this world...

But as fate would have it, or whatever you want to call it--

They can't or haven't had the opportunity yet.

My heart goes out to those Mothers-in-Heart;

I only hope they get their chance one day. 

And there are Pet-Moms out there.

You've got your little furry/hairy loved ones,

 And they can bring you such happiness.

I still get teary-eyed thinking about Lucy.

I'm still kicking myself for giving her up. 

I remember last June when I found out I was pregnant.

I told Matt I thought I was pregnant because I everything smelled bad.

He said he didn't want to waste $6 on pregnancy test.

(We'd had false alarms in the past, haha).

But I told him it wouldn't be a waste, so I drove to the store and bought a test.

I took the test while he was in the shower.

I saw that it was positive and hid it in the cupboard above the toilet.

I thought, "I'm going to sit on the news ALL DAY...that's what he gets for not believing me."

But really, I just wanted to do something cute to tell him the news.

The moment I found out I was pregnant, 

I think I gained a "Mother's Heart."

It was no longer about ME,

 But it was about that sweet spirit in my tummy.

That moment was just the beginning of an exciting journey. 

When Rex was born I was beyond scared.

Immediately I thought about all those sad stories I had witnessed at KSL...

Shaken babies, babies who drowned in the tub,

And babies who were accidentally hit in their own driveway.

I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.

I felt like I was going to fail him as a Mother.

Now I realize that was Satan trying to make me feel inadequate.

Each day when I look at Rex I feel such bliss,

And those worries have since faded.

I know it is my great responsibility to raise him right,

And I feel up to the challenge. 

Last night Rex woke up and he wasn't feeling well.

It was about 2:30am and I told Matt that I specifically needed:

"Rex's pediatrician sheet for Tylenol oral suspensions, the tylenol from the blue tub under the guest bathroom sink, and a syringe."

How much of those directions do you think Matt understood?

He came back with just the syringe and said,

"Wifey, you are speaking 'Mom' gibberish. I don't speak 'Mom' gibberish...

all I got was the syringe." 

I couldn't help but smile...

That's right, I speak 'Mom' now,

And I couldn't be happier doing it!! 

And those are my thoughts on Mother's Day. 

I Hope You All had a great Mother's Day,

 And You told YOUR Mom How Much You Care. 

Matt's Birthday

Yesterday marked a VERY SPECIAL DAY...

Matt's 24th Birthday!!

And Wow do I love all twenty-four years of him!

It's so fun looking back at pictures of us three years ago,

and seeing how much we've changed.

Matt has honestly grown more and more handsome each year.

I am one lucky girl :)

We celebrated his birthday by going to Anti-Gravity,

an indoor trampoline facility with his family.

It was so fun to catch up with Morgan, Kelly, Lindsay and his parents!

It was so sweet of Matt's mom Lisa to hold Rex so we could jump around.

Rex even bounced around a little bit...

After an hour we were exhausted!

That place is SUCH a WORKOUT!

Lindsay was so sweet and made Matt a homemade carrot cake.

She even shredded the pineapple, carrots, etc herself!

His parents and siblings were also very generous with their gifts.

We had a lot of fun just bein' young and bouncy. 

We also got to shoot some pool,

And not gonna lie--we were pretty terrible at it. 

Happy Birthday My LOVE!!!

Our New Home

It's been a couple of weeks since I last blogged...

and wow have we been busy since we moved to St. George.

Matt has been traveling like CRAZY for his job,

But thankfully he'll be slowing down for a while.

We love our new home in Lexington Hills!

It is spacious, clean and isn't in a sketchy neighborhood.

We loved our town home in Orem,

But honestly we are lucky we didn't get shanked...

Rex is growing up more and more each day.

He's 11 weeks and seems to be growing more serious.

He makes 'old man' faces and furrows his brow a lot.

He also smiles too.

But honestly he seems to constantly be deep in thought.

He's probably thinking...

"Why does my mom listen to so much Evanescence?"

"Why does daddy climb trees all the time?"

"Where did Auntie Roo get her mermaid hair?"

"And why can't I drive?" 

Last night he slept from 9:30 to 6:20am.

I woke up and thought my kid had died.

Nope, he just decided to let mom sleep all night. 

My brother Mitch turned 21 yesterday.

He gets home off his mission on June 19th, I'm stoked!

Matt turns 24 on Friday!!

I can't believe that we started dating when we were 21.

We were so young!

Heck, we are still so young.

We celebrated our 2 year anniversary right before we moved down here.

Matt took me to the Historic Armstrong Mansion in SLC.

Each room represents a month of the year.

We stayed in the 'June Bride Suite.'

It had a giant canopy bed, jacuzzi tub and sparkling cider ;)

We also went to Rodizio Grill and the Melting Pot.

The Melting Pot

We have had an amazing 2 years...

and I can't wait for 2 million more!

Two Years Ago

Thank you everyone who helped us move.

We really appreciate your love and support.

BYU Rugby Boys

Sad Note:

We decided it was time for Lucy to go to a new home.

As of late she was not getting along with having a baby in the house.

I still get teary-eyed thinking about her.

Thankfully, we found a family who adores her,

and can give her the attention she deserves.

Why St. George...

Well friends and family we are almost done packing.

All week people have been asking me why we are moving to St. George.

Yes, we did put a lot of work into our town home.

Yes, it's sad to leave Rex's first "home."

And Yes, it's weird leaving the place you've called home for 5 years.

But moving to St. George just feels right.

My brother Mitch gets home off his mission in June,

and we want to spend the summer with him before he returns to BYU-I.

I scooped up Matt just 3 months after he got home from serving in Eugene.

Just think, that could happen to my lil' bro and THEN I'll never see him!!

Rex is the first grand-baby, great grand-baby and great great grand-baby.

It will be nice being closer to HIS grandparents and great grand parents...

Plus his aunts, uncles, great uncles/aunts, second cousins etc.

We are slowly learning how much travel is required of Matt's job.

Rex received his 2-month-old shots on Monday,

And shortly after Matt had to catch a flight to San Jose.

LET ME TELL YOU...

Being alone with a very fussy baby for a few days is tough.

It will be nice having family close by to help out.

We've graduated from college--we are no longer "students".

This is a college town and we don't HAVE to be here anymore.

So essentially, there are no strings attached to Orem/Provo.

One of my good 'college' friends was not a good 'high school' friend.

Her name is Rebecca and we always got along fine, 

But just never hung out or talked to each other in high school. 

After rooming with her my sophomore year at BYU,

I can't help but think why we weren't friends in high school.

We used to say that to each other all the time when we roomed together.

Moving back to St. George I am positive there are girls out there that I wasn't necessarily friends with in high school, but whom could definitely be friends now.

There are gals out there who like me are:

*Married

*Educated

*New Moms

*Like Shopping

*Like Sweets

*Like Watching the Bachelor/Bachelorette

And I can't wait to start fresh in St. George and 'meet' them.

Kind of cheesy I know, but exciting and truthful nonetheless.

Goodbye Orem!