Story Time

Thank you so much for everyone who sticks with our blog, despite my total lack of blogging for the past two months.

Life is going so well. I love summer and the new freedom that comes with the beautiful warm weather. We spend a lot of time outside on walks and at the pool down the street. Thus the above pictures;-) Luke likes the water and is just starting to leave our laps and crawl around in the water. He still is not sure what he thinks about the deeper part but loves to sit in the shallow side and watch the other kids on the water jungle gym. Its such a fun pool, I am so glad that it is so close to our house. This is Luke and his friend Morgan playing in the water.

Life is going so well for our little family, busy but wonderful. Sorry this post is mostly about me. I don't have all of Luke's pictures uploaded so I will try to do a post all about him tomorrow.

I finished up my job with the dress company Mikarose. It was so fun to just get out and get all dressed up everyday. I loved the opportunity to talk to adults. But I have to admit I am glad its over. So lets see, what is new? I have started couponing. Well actually, I am learning to coupon and I think its fun.

And about a month ago Andrew's friend Megan, and I started going to the gym and doing spinning classes in the mornings. I have done spinning on and off since I was at BYU-I but I have been horrible at consistantly going since Luke was born. But this has been great, it starts a little before 6 each morning and we have only missed two days. It makes me so happy. I know I wouldn't have ever been so consistant if I didn't know there was someone waiting for me there. (Thanks Megan) I have so much more energy during the days and have loved adding a little more structure to my mornings.

And my favorite peice of news... I got a new job!

This is the Library, isn't it beautiful? I just got hired to be a StoryTeller for the Library here in Provo. I LOVE it. I work ten hours a week. I wear a mic, tell stories, sing songs, and do puppet shows! What can I say? I think it might be my perfect job. The childrens' library programs here are amazing. They are known throughout the country. They average over 5,000 kids who sign up for summer reading program and can have up to a hundred and fifty people show up for story time or toddler time on any given day. I am excited to be a part of it and learn from the people in the department. They have done a wonderful job at making events that really spark children's interest in reading. They do Canopy Capers, Book Babies, Story and Craft, and Science and Story programs as well as a lot of community outreach. It is such a wonderful program. This was my first week and I spent most of the time filling out papers, getting oriented and prepping for our next couple of weeks. I work with a girl named Jen. Who is pretty much amazing. She has been the StoryTeller for about 18 months and I am so excited to work with her (random side note: she grew up in Richland WA (same place I was born) and we went to the same elementry school for 1 year) Craz hu? Anyways, she is wonderful and is helping me learn tons of new songs and techniques to be a better story teller. I am so grateful to have this opportunity. It is the perfect amout of time per week for me to have some time to do something I love.

My good friend Ally is the PR/Program director at the Library and had asked me to volunteer for a few of their children's department events. These are pictures from a few of them.

What a wonderful day.

I have always loved reading other people's "Thankful Thursday" or "Sunshine Sunday" Posts. They make me happy. But for some reason I have never gotten around to actually posting one. But lately I have been so grateful. And never more so than today. So last night while Andrew was at work I got the most incredible headache. (the kind that make you sick) I have gotten them only once or twice since and both since I have had Luke. But anyways, because of this I slept in quite late this morning. And when I awoke it was to a fed and dressed baby and my cute husband saying "get in the car" "quick" I put on some shorts and flip flops and we headed out to our adventurous day. He took me up a beautiful canyon in Springville named Hobble Creek. He had gone and got me my favorite food (kneaders, yum!!) And planned a picnic for us on one of the most beautiful days of the year. We ate our sandwiches and read Tom Sayer out loud to each other. After a while, Luke and Andrew played on the swings as I napped on the blanket. Then he took me to an antique shop (talk about a man who loves me) This is one of my passions I love antiquing and have not gone in ages. I loved loved loved it. It was so thoughtful and helped me to appreciate just how beautiful it is here in Provo. But I just love playing outside with my little family. They are pretty much thr greatest!

Sorry these aren't our pictures from today the camera ran out of batteries just as we got there.

May Day

Hello Hello Everyone. I know it has been over a month since I last posted. But thanks for sticken' with us. Our lives have been crazy in the past month, wonderful but crazy. So a little about this month oh, where should we start? How bout with Luke...

Walker Walker Walker!!!
As seen above... a couple of weeks after we got our dafos (ankle braces) Luke's physical therapist recommended we get him a walker. We weren't super excited right at first but ever since we got it we have loved it. Its to help him move forward without holding on to our fingers and with out support for his core. (Luke's weakest part) It really helped right at first but the past week or so Luke would just rather crawl and get places faster rather than walk. To walk or not to walk, what do you do?:-) But overall Luke has been doing absolutely Fabulous. He has been holding on to some chest congestion so we took him in today to change up his asthma meds so hopefully that all clears up. And we just started speech therapy which has been great. He can say Daddy, baba, hi and sometimes K'vn and what does he call me do you ask... ma- ma - ma-daddy. Yep I don't get my own word just ma- tagged to the front of Daddy:-) He also has started signing and does more when he wants more food or drink. I love it he is so stinkin cute. He has started to wave at other little kids when we pass by and I love it. Oh and did I mention he is finally completely on Sippy Cups. YEEEAAA! So he is basically my joy except the fact he doesn't want me. Yep its true when I come home he clings t daddy starts to cry and pushes me away. Where do I come home from, do you ask? well

I got a new job...

My Life as Costco Model

Yes its true. I was looking for jobs for Andrew online and came up with one of my own. I work for a dress company called Mikarose. It is based here in Orem and sells mostly online and at bridal boutiques. However, a couple times a year they do a Costco Roadshow. This is where I come in. I wear the dresses and talk to the people. Yep that's my job. It really has been wonderful for our little family. Most of the time I work in the mornings and get home just in time for Andrew to leave for Red Robin. And for those days I don't make it home in time, Luke gets to spend some extra time with his Uncle Kevin. And he loves his uncle! I only work for about two months. Just enough time for us to work all of the surrounding costco's (I think they might be looking for someone for one week in both Pocatello and Twin Falls so if you are interested let me know) Its great. I have loved dressing up and taking to adults. But I have to admit I am kind of excited to be home again and get my house in order. But overall it has been a great for us all. Luke has loved spending the extra time with Daddy. And I have enjoyed working. I also get to work with a friend from BYU-I/Playmill/Disney, Amy Shreeve Keeler which also makes the whole thing that much greater!

Lets see other things...

Sports
Andrew has been able to stay quite active lately he joined a Fraternity football league and is up for MVP for the most touchdowns he is amazing. Oh and no he is not in the frat. A guy he works with is the Fraternity President and asks Andrew to play in the league. Andrew love it it is hardcore.

Also today he joined a softball tournament as a fundraiser for Primary Childrens Hospital. He was awesome. Luke and I went and cheered him on it was so much fun. This is a movie of us right after at the park. Look at those tummy muscles, we were so proud of him. We think he might have hidden bull-riding-talent. Andrew is standing about a half foot behind Luke so he is holding on all by himself. Luke is ProShow at seesaw.



As for the Job Front
Things are going better and we have expanded our search to new fields. We have had a few promising leads but we are keeping them quiet until we see if they pan out. So if it happens we will let you know. In the mean time Andrew became a CDT at work and we have loved that. He is such an amazing server. I try not to brag about my husband but he really is amazing. I think it is the fact he is so good with people and naturally so happy. Its great being married to someone that nice!

Other Stuff
Thank you to everyone for the prayers and support for my mom and our family. My Mom had to have some surgery recently and everyone has been so awesome both here and in Idaho Falls. She is doing great! Let me just tell you my mom is my favorite person. My day is not complete until I have called her. And since I talk to her every day she is the first to remind me how long it has been since I posted. So here it is a video just for Grandma. It isn't anything special, just him showing off his demolished play corner. Yeaa for movies. ( I know the picture might seem like a strange picture to post but it is one of my favorites of me and my mom. She is helping me get ready for my wedding. I love it )

And on a last note a month or so ago I posted a little about my best friend Alli her husband Kyle, and their little baby Grant . Grant is now six weeks old and has had more ups and downs than we would have liked. They haven't left the hospital yet and it looks like it might be a while before they do. Grant has had a few episodes in the past week or so that has made his condition a little more serious. He has been such a trooper and is doing his best to keep up with hi little body. Again please keep them in your prayers particularly little Grant. I had a couple of you ask how they can help. I don't really know particularly what they need but this post explains one way to help.


Well I guess that is all. I will post more often- promise- I will try. Happy day!

March Madness

I am so sorry to all, I have been meaning to post this for days and days. So instead I just keep adding on and this post gets longer.

Oh and as for my last post, Thanks for all the prayers in regard to Alli, Kyle and Grant. I can't believe the outpouring of support and prayers from those of you who don't even know my dear friend. Grant was born on Friday March 20 after 26 hours of labor. Yes, Alli is amazing! He has had some ups and down ever since and is in surgery this morning (3/24). If you would like to watch for updates you can check Grant's Blog. Feel free to leave a comment for them I am sure it would make Alli happy to know how many people are praying for her little family.


As for our little family, we are all wonderful. And just for Grandma, here are lots of pictures. We have had a busy couple of weeks here on our happy little Hill-Top! But things are going so well. I am so happy its spring. Every time I look out my windows I feel like singing "June is Busting Out all Over" from Carousel. Yes, I know its not June. But it just seems like the right song for the weather. And because of the weather we have been spending a lot more time outside. Luke has really enjoyed it. It might sound funny, but Luke has not spent a lot of time outside. Its just kinda happened that way with the timing of things. But we are trying to change that. We have been taking him to the park a lot and walks to the store. He likes the sun and I think the baby swings are his new found passion. Another great thing about the park is he has lots of space to try out his new skills. Because.... Luke got his braces!!!! Yeaah! He has low muscle tone and because of this it has cause some complications with hisancles and feet. So we had some orthotics made to re alin his feet and help him stand and eventually learn to walk . They are super cute braces with little reen and blue dinosaurs on them and come up to right under his knee. Here is a picture of them on. Its crazy they make him like 3 in taller(because he can stand up straight) He has done realy great transitioning into wearing them and they don't seem to bother him at all. We put them on when we get him out of his crib in the morning and then we take them off right before we put him to bed. The only draw back is he has to wear shoes on top of them all the time.(to protect the brace) This is less than fun because we have to go two sizes up in shoes to get them on top of the braces. So its like he is learning to walk in clown shoes:-)
So know we will go in order, The next night we went up to Syracuse to spend the night with the Andrew's family. Andrew's sister Liz and her Kids were up from WY along with his sister Mel and her son Bronco. Luke has had a lot of respitory problems before that week but was perfectly healthy at that point:-)

Unfortunately it didn't last, the next night we woke up at 3 am and Luke couldn't breathe. He sounded dry and horse but the worst was the strider that accompanied each breathe. So up we went to the Out-patient Suction Clinic. They he didn't improve enough and his oxygen was low so they admitted him around 4:30 am on Friday the 13 for observation. I was really upset because I was scheduled to be a "fairy" at the public library that night. But since he had not had any problems breathing in a few hours I had my brother Kevin come to the hospital and sit with Luke so I go. By the way it was fabulous! My friend Ali (cori's BFF) is the public relations coordinator for the public library and was planning the wonderful annual Fairy Teaparty and needed people to help. I was so excited to do it and we had so much fun. If you look closely at the picture you can see my hot pink hospital bracelet. But I had a lot of fun (thanks Ali) And it worked out perfectly becaus Luke was dischraged a couple hours after I got back to the hospital that night. Don't feel bad if you didn't know he had been in the hospital, we didn't tell many people and didn't want people to worry. (thus no archival hospital pictures)
So after that night some meds and a couple of shots we haven't had any problems since. We are crossing our fingers that RSV/croup season is coming to the end. And then we went to our PT apt this week and........................ Tada.... Luke walked around the office with a push toy!!! We had though Luke might need a walker to hep him after he got his braces but he did so well it is looking like all we will need is a push toy and lots and lots of practice:-) This make me happy.

So that is most of the major events we have been up to. We had a chance to see my family last night as they prepared to fly out and see my sister Cori and her family in Chicago. And basically we are happy and excited to be at this fun point in our lives. The job hunt continues strong we have had a few more bites but not the big catch. But we are so incredibly grateful that we are able to be so blessed in the transition.

Today is Alli-day

Hey all, a while back I did a little post about my best friend Alli and her son Grant. Grant is coming into the world tonight or tomorrow with a congenital heart defect called HLHS. She is one of the most amazing people I know and really means the world to me. We have been friends ever since junior high and pretty much inseparable through high school. She is that friend that it doesn't matter how long it has been since the last time you talked you pick right back up again where you left off. She has been there for me through pretty much everything and I love her for it! If you could all keep her and little Grant in your prayers I would greatly appreciate it!
Isn't she the cutest pregnant lady ever. I stole this picture off her blog (hope you don't mind Alli) I just love it. She always had the prettiest hair out of all of us, even in high school. Yep I love her:-)

I have lots of other news and picture to post but this has been on my mind all day.

Lil' Man

Look at this kid? I can't get over it, he is so funny. I realized it has been a little bit since I posted Luke pictures so...... Surprise today's the day!:-) First, Luke has grown completely out of all his church attire. So rather than the multi-colored collard shirts and jeans we went to Kid-to-kid and got him a real church outfit. Isn't he hansom? He looks so grown up.
Life has been pretty fabulous for us lately, despite the frequent recurring respiratory virus Luke can't seem to shake. But he has been a trouper and has braved the frequent suctioning and nebulizing like a champ. It is funny how routine it become after a while. But despite the virus he hasn't slowed down. He is enjoying a new sense of mobility with his mad crazy pull up and cruising skills and has learned to open bags and pull things apart. (thus the following pictures) Needless to say he keeps us on our toes. But it doesn't seem to matter what he does he looks up at you with that impish smile and you can;t help but love him!







He gets a great amount of joy in his two new favorite games. "Can I have it" (give a toy to mommy and then she gives it back) and "Peek-a-Boo"(he holds a book in front of his face and pulls it down and we yell Peek-a-Boo). Peek-a-Boo is super funny because most of the time he tries to do it fast and just end up hitting his face with the book. I laugh every time. Throw that in with book reading and a tantrum and you have got our daily routine. Its fun to see this little personality begin to blossom.
He definitely knows what he wants. He always keeps me on my toes. Last night before I put him to bed I was sitting on the couch typing. He came up and stood next to me and the next minute I look over and he had fallen asleep. Standing Up! I had to document it. He was snoring and everything.
And the next movie is of him singing along to American Idol. I had no idea what he was doing with his tongue but I thought it was hilarious and had to share. (Sorry the videos are dark)
But he's my favorite little person and I love the time I get to be with him. It is amazing to watch him change and grow. I can't believe he is 15 months.

Learn to like it!

So I have never been an exercise buff, not something I really enjoyed. I remember vividly in the six grade track meet, I was chosen for Shot Put. Not because of my massive arm strength or because I could actually through the metal ball. But because of my total lack of ability on the track. I remember I never got the "Presidential Physical Fitness Award" Most years it was because of the mile, but 6th grade I lost that honor because of my lack of PullUp-ability. GRRRRR! So I have always had a little aversion towards running. Many of my friends run but I always just considered them more athletic than myself. But in the past year many of my friends have taken up running. So when Andrew got me a gym pass for Mother's Day last year I began by going only to cycling and yoga classes which I have always loved. But about two months ago I was inspired by so many of my running friends and I came to the realization. I am not always going to have a gym pass, athletic equipment, or a work-out class with a teacher yelling at me to push harder. I decided if I wanted an exercise I could do whenever and no matter the economic situation. So... I should learn to like running. So treadmill and I have started spending quality time together.
Now this is the point where I make a confession. I don't really "run" It's more like speed-walking with intervals of running. But I feel good about it. I have to start out with something I can do and work my way up. So last night I did my best Quazi-run ever. 8 miles!!!! So maybe the majority of it was speed-walkingness with some intervals of running. But my personal best up to this point was 5 so I thought I should document the accomplishment. Now if I could only be better about going everyday. Its funny I think my main motivation for going is to have "me" time. I have never needed "me" time before in my life, it has always been the more people to talk to the better. But I think the fact that I stay at home with Luke makes me cherish the time I don't have to look after anyone but myself. I am able to watch TV (which we don't have) and watch totally nonsense shows that make me smile:-) To be truthful, the 2 hour premier of ANTM helped me to attain my 8 miles. Its just important to take time for myself and since my only real option is the gym it helps my body too!

Andrew's parents got a running stroller for Luke for Christmas. We thought this would be good motivation for us to run. Also.... we are planning to run a "hypothetical half-marathon" that will be run at a yet undetermined time. We aren't sure where we will be this summer so it is hard to plan an official date. But the long and the short of it is I think it is good for me to try something new. I am a creature of habit and love to stick to things I know. After running my next goal is to conquer my fear of weights:-) But I have been making a little headway with that too. Just not quite as much as with running!