Dresden's One! Halloween's Fun! What a Run!

WARNING: This is probably the most pictures I've ever put on our blog, but for those of you who love pictures, I know you'll appreciate it. (Plus, this was a very exciting month). For those who like words there are those as well. But I think the pictures take the cake!

Up until a year ago, fall was my second least favorite season. That one year ago was the day that I delivered my beautiful little baby boy. I think actually started when I was pregnant with him during those fall months that I realized how much I love the fall. I love the leaves all over the ground, the cool breeze, the nice weather (quite unusual around Halloween, let alone November), the smells (pumpkin spice and anything spice) and most of all the recollection of the day that I new I would be holding my baby in my arms very soon. I remember the day I went into labor and the way it looked and felt outside. My sweet husband were anxious to meet our little guy and we went on a walk on the Provo river trail. I remember those yellow leaves that were crunching under my feet and the cool breeze (all things I listed as what I like about fall now) and my arm in my husbands as excited as ever. Now Dresden has been in my life for a year now and I love him even more than the first day I held him. Tonight I held him in the rocking chair and couldn't believe how it wasn't long ago that he was just a tiny little baby. I LOVE BEING A MOTHER! I love everything about it, but most of all I love the way it changes me and helps me to realize what really matters in life. And it's not school, it's not that new bike I'd love or the lifetime supply of Barnes n' Noble gift cards to buy books on all the topics that fascinate me and it's not the delicious sweets I've eaten tonight (thanks Tamera and Stasha). It's about the moments in life where you pause and realize how lucky you are to have those wonderful people in your lives. I have so many wonderful people in my life how teach me about life, how to love and the importance of laughter.

Initially I had to help Dresden delve into his cupcake....

...he then realized how delicious it was, and then...

...he devoured the whole thing, and I mean the whole thing. He tried to eat the wrapper.

My most recent experience I had that will stand out to me forever was the trip I took down to St. George for the Snow Canyon Half-marathon with my lovely sister-in-laws (Beth and Kristen), my friend (Megan Smailes) and my (what I now call) Mentor (Mama Smailes) who taught me more about life and answered more of my important questions in two 4 hour car rides than I think I have ever had. She shared a lot about parenting, Adam and Eve, the Temple, the Gospel and religion, the marriage relationship, family, the problem with women, and the problem with public schools. I HAVE BEEN ENLIGHTENED! And I don't even know if Mama Smailes even knows how big of an impact she has had on my life but I want to publicly thank her for opening my eyes to a lot of things. I feel like I can live better, love better and laugh better. My dear friend Stasha (the one in the picture below where we're holding our Halloween crafts) mentioned the importance of "the little things" and in a way they are little, but they make a big difference. I thought I wanted to be a psychologist, but after having someone dear to me make a difference in my life (and I'm only one person) I think that that would be good enough for me. So once I'm done with my degree I'm not going to worry about type of psychologist I want to be all I'm going to focus on is raising my son and being the best wife, friend, daughter, etc. that I can be. I'm going to read a lot and most importantly ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS! Life is about discovering this world and the things and people that are in it. But we must focus on the fundamentals: love and laughter. "Life is too short to be anything but happy!" I now want to turn finding positive things in everything into a game. I want to laugh more and love more and I'm glad I have two boys in my life who I get to learn how to improve on those things. They are my stars in my sky. I'm so grateful to be living and especially with such wonderful people. I AM SURROUNDED BY WONDERFUL PEOPLE!

This is my sweet mother who had she not been there I couldn't have made the party happen! Love you mom!

And my sweet mother-in-law was a ginormous help as well. Especially when her and my wonderful friend/sister Beth surprised me and had my kitchen all clean when the party was done. And Beth also came to the rescue with Dresden's cake (it hadn't been decorated and the party had already started).

I've got about three or so weeks till I'm done with my degree...I can't wait for the next adventures that will be coming my way once I'm not worrying about papers, required reading (even though I love the things I'm reading) and the 2 hour commutes. Till then I'm enjoying every minute I'm dedicating to learning. Dresden and Scott are so wonderful to come home to and to have in my life. I AM THE LUCKIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD...ACTUALLY, IN THE UNIVERSE! Look below at all the wonderful times we've had and the wonderful people we love.

Love,

Me

For Halloween Scott was Popeye, Dresden a can of Spinach and I, Olive Oyl. It was so much fun even though I stayed up till 4 am finishing our costumes and preparing for Dresden's Party the next day!

I was surprised how well he was able to crawl in his costume. Isn't this picture cute of him!

Since Halloween was on Sunday and we couldn't wear our costumes I wanted at least me and Scott to be festive in our Sunday getup. I thought orange and black seemed very fitting.

I love my Popeye! I had a blast creating our costume. Scott even helped a little. I love how he is so willing.

We went to a Chinese restuarant with all of our wonderful friends after the ward party. Check out Mr. and Mrs. Halloween (Klint and Mary-She's got quite the doo). And did you see the Alligator hunters with their Alligator (Beth, Bryce and Smith). We have the best friends. They always make us laugh! We love you guys!

I and darling friend Stasha made these cute Halloween lanterns (all Stasha's idea). I love getting together with her. She is such a good example to me and she is certainly one of the reasons I've loved moving to Provo. She is one of the sweetest, kindest, and thoughtful persons I know.

Dresden loves his uncle Jon. Even though he doesn't know it he won't get to see him for two years the first of December. Jon's deciding to go and serve the Lord on a Mission to Baton Rouge, Louisiana . We are so proud of Jon! I especially love being there for when he went through the temple. I'd never seen a soon-to-be missionary go through! I love my cute little brother!

Dresden's watching Jon fix his bird trap. I can't wait for when Jon gets back so Dresden can learn how to be a falconer like his Uncle.

I miss my hunter!

Scott left Friday to go hunting and I realized how much I enjoy having him around and being his wife. What I miss most is having him to snuggle up next to when we go to bed. The past couple nights I've either slept on the couch because I don't want to sleep in bed alone or I look over and think, I miss you Husband. I think even Dresden has realized he's missing from the picture. He constantly is saying Da, Da about everything he sees. Besides the fact that I've felt like I've somewhat quarantined myself to my house because little Dresden has been throwing up on and off, we've had a great time spending time together. It's amazing how even something that I have feared for years (throw-up) has suddenly not become such an issue when you have children. I am grateful I have Dresden to teach me a few things about life. He truly is my shining star and I don't know what I'd do without him. I just hope that he is all better. If not then it means that I have more to learn with him.

Today was a lovely Sunday. I woke up and we took a short walk where we looked at the trees, the birds and the dump truck (Dresden especially liked this). Then I put Dresden down for a nap and then got ready for church, read scriptures, and planned out my week. I've got to make my fall break be something productive and fun and that is going to take some effort on my part. After that I got Dresden up and fed him and got him dressed and we walked to church. It was a beautiful day. After church we went and hung out at Grandma's house. I liked driving up the canyon with my mom. I've really enjoyed our conversations lately. I think we've learned a lot about each other.

Anyway, I'm excited to spend time with my baby boy for a few days where I don't have to go anywhere or do much of anything. I wish Scott was here because then it would make it all the better, but I'm glad he's up doing something he enjoys. I hope to possibly get some pictures and give a summary our first summer as a family. Til then, thanks for reading. Happy trails!

Back in May...

For starters, Dresden is officially half way to a year old. I can't believe it! We went to the doctor and he's about 67th percentile for his head, 10th for his weight to heighth ratio, and about 15th for his weight. (I knew he was ready for solids...I guess it's that motherly instinct everyone talks about...I don't know). I was so excited to get him on solids, but it had to wait. I had finals for Spring Semester (which didn't go too bad) and Mother's Day (that went really well) at the flower shop. Even so though so many wonderful things were going on in my life I just couldn't shake the excitment I had for starting Dresden on solids. Finally, on Mother's Day Dresden got to devour delicious homemade carrots made by his lovely aunt Beth (and I say that because that was what he was doing with practically every bite). Below is some of the footage of this momentous experience.

Some of the other wonderful adventures we've got to enjoy this past two months is planting a garden, perfecting my bread making skills, a celebration of my wonderful birthday (thanks to my hubby, Beth and my mom, dad and brother...not to mention all those wonderful people who remembered me that day) and the best of all has been watching my little boy grow like a weed. I seriously did not know how hard online classes would be for me especially when you have a little boy as cute as Dresden wanting to soak up all and every bit of spare time you have. I just hope he knows how much I adore being his mother. He makes me so happy (even when he screams the entire time I'm out delivering flowers for our flowershop).

By the way (little side note)...can I just say how grateful I am for the sweet gal we hired to manage our shop. Since we've done that I have been able to fall in love with owning "our own little flower shop" all over again. It's taken me a while to admit to this, but I am just not manager type. Thank heaven for those who can do well at that sort of thing.

Back to my precious little boy...I don't know what to say other than I am truly blessed. I couldn't have asked for a better son. He lights up my world. These past few weeks I've had this feeling that perhaps I shouldn't continue on with my schooling. I don't want to miss those little "baby" moments that I've thought was not so big of a deal before. I thought I'd better get my schooling done while Dresden can't walk and talk. But I'm realizing that even that isn't as easy as I made it sound. However, I have only 4 classes left until I can graduate. The more I think about it and pray, it seems to be the wiser choice to stick with it. Boy am I in a dilemma hopefully I Heavenly Father can help me out with this decision. Dresden and Scott are the most important priority to me and I will do anything I have to make sure they are well taken care of. We shall see what the best thing is. Until then...it's been nice catching up.

Green, Green and More Green

Boy has it been awhile... Two months since my last blog...? I need to get bloggin', so here we go.
I have officially decided that St. Patrick's Day is my Second Favorite Holiday (next in line from Christmas). And why, do you ask? For those of you that know me, my favorite color is green. Why was it this year that I realized that that is one of the main parts about St. Patrick's Day? I don't know, but dressing in all green and making Leprechaun hats for my son and Eden (my good friend from Eagle Mountain, Rachel's daughter) made my month. Weird I know, but it's true! A day granted to wearing green what could be better.
Rachel came over for a visit that day and we made smoothies and she made her Whole Wheat Oat Bran pancakes with Berry topping. Yumm..... Maybe this contributed to my glorious day with the fact that we made Smoothies (my most favorite treat!) Her and I laughed about how excited we were about our craft of making Leprechaun hats. We for sure enjoyed it more than our two little ones.




On another note, I have to say how lucky I am to have the husband I do. The other morning I woke up to my sweetheart cleaning up the mess Dresden made of himself. I neglected to realize that he had on a diaper whose size was a bit too small. Let's just say most of what shouldn't ended up in his diaper didn't and my amazing husband was in taking care of it while I was snoozing. It's time like these that I am so greatful for how much my husband loves children. I love seeing how excited he gets when I ask him to wake up Dresden. He's more excited than then when he finds out he has to sub for a soccer game (crazy I know). It's these little moments in life that I must never take for granted. My sweet mother-in-law gave me a cute little sign that says "Life's too Short to be Anything but Happy". I totally agree with this.



Speaking of happy, I am just thrilled that Dresden has started rolling over. He hated being on his tummy so bad that I worried that he wouldn't learn to roll over. Well he has and I'm sure he's glad he did because now whenever I put him on his tummy he immediately rolls onto his back. We're still working on going from his back to his tummy, but I'll just have to be patient with that until he decides that tummy time isn't all so bad.This week I have spring break from school and as much as I love school, boy could I use a break. Plus, I'm so excited to: spend more quality time with my son,Blog (hence, this blog), hopefully find a new car, prepare for my garden I'm so excited for, spring clean my house,sign up for my marathon and prepare our sharing time for this Sunday (Scott and I were called to do this once a month and boy is Scott so thrilled to be back with the little kids...he he). Anyway, I'd better get going on my Spring Break tasks! Til next time!

Dresden's Baby Blessing

This past Sunday we had one of the most exciting days you can have as a parent. I got to enjoy watching my husband use the wonderful Priesthood of our church and bless our baby boy! He did such a wonderful job! I felt so close to my Heavenly Father, my husband and son and my family through the words that Scott said. I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it has brought so much joy to my life. I was also blessed to share my testimony and to hear other wonderful testimonies including my Scott's. Afterwards we had the pleasure of eating a wonderful meal provided by our family and enjoying each others company at my parents beautiful home! I just didn't want the day to end- everything was more than I could ask for! Thank you family and friends for being with us on our special day! (Oh, and one more thing I must mention, Dresden got to wear his Uncle Trevor's Blessing Tux. Doesn't he look handsome?)

Happy Holidays!

Oh boy, oh boy Christmas was the best yet! Not only did I receive the best gift a mother could receive a 2 months ago, but my dad built me beautiful shelf/coat rack and my sweetheart got me two of my favorite books "How to hug a porcupine" and "The Road Less Traveled"(I can't wait to start delving into them)! Plus, we got to have 4 Christmas's with all of the wonderful family we have so close by. I love Christmas!



We had a lovely New Years with Bryce, Beth, Smith and their friend/ home teacher Enoch. We had homemade pizzas and played 21. I never thought that I would really enjoy Poker, but with the dealer we had (Beth) we all had a blast! Oh, and we had to snap a picture of the cousins because they just happened to be matching in their little orange outfits. The one Dresden is wearing was handpicked by his Grandpa Ger (Thanks Dad!).