Christmas 2011

Brig had his ankle surgery the day before my last final. Which means I didnt study for my last final…no worries I passed (barely!) I have seriously been enjoying my break so much. Poor Brig is getting a little sick of laying on the couch all day. Luckily we have had some fun parties and family events to break up the days! Oh and don’t worry, our insurance covered an awesome scooter that Brig can use instead of crutches. Maddix calls it “dada’s bike”. We have been staying very busy..family parties, friend parties, Bass Pro Shop, hair cuts from Reagan, family pictures, Christmas lights, cleaning the house (finally), lots of walks, hanging out with my sister Melanie who was visiting from Boston!, two Last Chance trips, hiking camelback, taking care of Brig, legos, baking, eating, and eating some more.
When we got home from our Christmas Eve party at my sister in law’s house, Maddix opened his new pajamas. He loves the dogs and footballs on them :) Christmas morning we woke up at 6 to open gifts. Yes, we are little kids. Maddix loved his new bike and 4 wheeler he got for Christmas! Our amazing neighbors gave us their 4 wheeler that their kids are too old for. They are seriously the nicest people ever! Brig opened his GPS that I surprised him with. And I didnt open anything because I spent all my money that Brig gave me for Christmas, BEFORE Christmas at Last Chance :) Dont worry, it was definitely well spent! On Christmas morning we went to church with Brig’s parents and then to their house for breakfast and to watch them open their gifts. The rest of the day was spent at my Grandma’s for lunch, some nap time in the afternoon, and then to my parents for game night with the neighbors. Oh, and I guess I lied above because I opened plenty of gifts from Grandma and got plenty of other amazing things from my parents and Brig’s parents :) They were all so generous. It was really neat having Christmas on a Sunday. It felt great to start the day off with church in the morning listening to music about our Savior. It helped set the mood for the day. It was a perfect Christmas.
Today I took Maddix to Freestone park to feed the ducks. He loved it. Then I pushed him around the park on his new bike. It was so fun to have a little date with my little man. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas like we did!
       

Day 2 (oops!)

I told you I would skips like 10 days!! I’m back :)
Today I am grateful for a healthy body. In school I hear about so many conditions and sicknesses that people can have and every single time I think, “wow I’m blessed!” Sometimes I complain about my body, or how I look, or how my teeth aren’t perfect..I always thought they were until I started Dental Hygiene school :) But in reality, I love my body. I am so grateful that I have a healthy body that allows me to do what I love to do.
Yesterday I ran my third half marathon. It was the toughest one for me, mostly because I only ran once a week to train for it without working out at all throughout the week. I am secretly very competitive. I have a hard time when girls my age are flying by me during races! I pushed myself very hard even though I know my body was not as in shape as it was in my last two races. I ended up finishing in 1:47 which was exactly between my other two race times! So I was happy with it! Sometimes I wish I would just run to enjoy the race. But nope, my competitive self tells me to run till my legs feel like they’re going to fall off. I ran my very hardest and about passed out at the finish line (not really but it felt like I was going to!) Maddix slept at my parent’s house so that she could watch him in the morning. We took advantage of it and went to Cheesecake Factory. You’re probably thinking that I loaded up on carbs right? Close. I ate delicious greasy onion rings! And a big salad that had about 10 pieces of lettuce in it and lots and lots of dressing :) I’m so smart. Brig was a trooper and came early with me to the race to be there the whole time. My dad surprised me and showed up at the half way mark with his video camera. I just figured that that was the only time I would see him, but nope! He showed up at about every 2 miles to video tape me! It was so nice to have someone (especially my dad) cheering me on the whole time! I have the best family.
That being said, I’m so grateful to have a body that allows me to push myself and achieve my goals.
Next up, TURKEY TROT!

i just had to add how hilarious/difficult it is to try to get a decent picture with this little boy. Just about every pic, his face was blurry and mine was not, which means he can’t stand still for 1 sec! Or he would say cheese and then hurry and turn away. Finally we got one!!
 

day 1

so i really want to do the grateful challenge that everyone is doing through november. But the problem is that I’m bad at blogging everyday, not to mention i have studying and reading and maddix and brig to play with too. so here goes day 1. we’ll see how long it lasts!
#1. MY family
 
I love these two more than anything. They make me so happy. Brig has been my hero while I’ve been in school. He does so much to help out with maddix while i’m at school and even when i’m not at school! He wakes up at 4 every morning for work and monday through wednesday he is mr. mom when he gets home. He is always trying to put a smile on my face and he’s good at it. I can’t imagine life without him. I love you babe!
I already poured out my whole soul about maddix in my last post so i wont over do it but, basically i love that kid to death. He gets cuter and cuter everyday. He is growing up so fast and talks so much! I can’t imagine life without him either!
I am so grateful for the plan of salvation and that we were able to be sealed in the temple for eternity. I love knowing that I get to be with both of my boys forever. I love them so so much!

thought exfoliations

pretend that makes sense because it does to me.

right now i have millions of thoughts and i was going to make each one of them my fb status and then realized that I'd have millions of fb status’ in one night so here we go…

-maddix can say his name and its the cutest thing ever. sounds simple, but seriously you’d melt if you heard this little guy say, “Mannix Wheet”. Yes that's exactly how he says it. he tries to hard and i love it.

-today we paid off our car!!! yeeah-ah! we’ve been making big payments on it recently so that we don't have to go another year with a car payment each month. NO more car payments for us! feels amazing. that pretty much made my day.

-i lied. going to the temple made my day.. and then paying off the car came in a close 2nd :) even though i forgot brig's church shoes and his temple clothes (he met me there from work), we still managed to get to the temple. I love being able to walk into the temple and feel at peace. I love being able to sit and ponder for an hour or two and receive answers. I love the Spirit that I feel there and I know that it is truly the Lord’s house.

-P.S.- It pays off being a LeSueur. Thanks to LeSueur’s Tuxedos Brig had a snazzy pair of burgundy dress shoes to wear into the temple. They looked fantastic with his grey pants and blue tie, let me tell ya. Well at least better than his pumas.

-Costa Vida date without “Mannix” came in a very close 3rd.

-I might be regretting Costa Vida when I run my 9 miler in the morning

-Speaking of running, right about now I’m craving a Costco chocolate hand dipped ice cream bar covered in toasted almonds. 800 calories of yumminess in case you wanted the details..

-Or any ice cream would do…getting desperate i guess.

-Pinterest is my way of relaxing and letting my brain rest during studying breaks.

-My son is an angel when I'm not around, and a big stinker when i am around. Any advice would be much appreciated from any mothers who have had a 20 month old that throws very large temper tantrums when they don’t get to pick every single thing they eat and every place where they get to eat. HELPPPPP! My solution as of now is crib time when he throws fits. But lately I feel like I’m either at school, or putting maddix in his crib. I would love to have a happy home at least half of the time that I’m home :) In fact, I think I hear him crying…wait nope, it’s just engraved in my head.

-Okay, okay. We do have some good moments. And when we do, I shed a few tears because of how sweet my little man can be. He gives me kisses, and huge hugs around my neck. He loves me to hold him and dance around the house to music. He hits a baseball like no other 20 month old I know! He lets me tickle and wrestle him on the bed. He has the cutest/chunkiest little legs ever! His voice seriously melts my heart. He is such a good talker. He surprises me every day with a new word. He still takes awesome morning naps for me each day so that I can study. I don’t know many 20 month olds that still take 2 naps a day. One of my very favorite things is that he already loves the temple. Seriously though. We have two pictures of the temple in our house. Each morning he points to one of them and says something that sounds like “pemple”. Then he wants to touch it. And then he says “dada” and keeps saying “dada” until I tell him that "mommy and daddy got married in the temple”.  And then he gets a huge smile on his face. This little guy already knows how special the temple it. A few weeks ago we took him to walk around the temple and he did not want to leave. He cried the whole way home saying “pemple! pemple!”. I can’t complain. I love him to death and I thank my Heavenly Father each day that I have him! I absolutely love being a mom. Even though it can be pretty difficult sometimes, I wouldn't trade it for anything. The amount of happiness that he brings to me, not to mention the Spirit that he brings into our home, makes it so worth it. I’m so blessed!

-Brig has been having some good ideas of what kind of careers he might want to pursue. I used to be so worried about making sure its a job that will provide lots of money, but now I could care less (maybe a sign that I'm maturing a little? yay!) As long as we just have what we need, I really just want him to be happy and to love what he does!

-I love Dental Hygiene school. I am not just saying this. I really really love what I’m going to be doing. I’m sorry if I ever talk any of your heads off about school, but it’s only because I love it or because I want to vent to someone about how difficult it can be sometimes. But mostly because I love it :) I didn't say i love all the studying, because I don't. I just love what I’m learning and I love the feeling of working hard for something and seeing the results. We had midterms last week and thanks to my awesome husband and mom and sister in law Bethany (who watched him like 3 times in one week for me and she’s about to have a baby! she’s amazing), i rocked them! bragging moment- my lowest grade was an 87% and this was huge because i could've sworn that i failed one of them. okay, I'm done bragging because like I said, I couldn't have done it without my awesome fam and many many prayers. I was just very happy about it!! So that being said, yes, I’m still in the program. I love my class mates. They are all amazing people and great examples to me. I highly recommend the Dental Hygiene Program to anyone who loves meticulous work, being detailed, interacting with people, making things look clean and pretty, someone who wants to learn everything there is to know (and more) about teeth, working in a neat and clean environment, and doesn't mind blood and needles :)

Okay so some of these were more than small thoughts but I already feel so much better. If you made it through this, you are a trooper. Congrats :) And thanks for reading!

playing in the rain

pulling daddy’s hair

 

plugging his ears because baby addi (my friend rachel’s baby) was crying.

he’s never done this before so it was hilarious!

  

Rachel and I at clinic working on our typodants- Charlie and….mine doesn’t have a name yet. Suggestions would be much appreciated.

class of 2013! 

busy life

I guess this is what a busy life is like! Every Friday after I drop Maddix off at one of my sister in law’s houses’ I get Maddix withdrawals. I am so done by Friday and so is he! Even though it’s hard to leave him, I really think that it is so good for him and that he really enjoys getting out of the house for a few hours to play with cousins and grandma’s. He get’s so excited when I tell him we’re going to Mimi's or that grandma is coming over, or that he get’s to go play at Trevin’s, Tate’s or Eli’s house. I just try to remember that it is good for him and that it will be so worth it! The good thing is that I am really enjoying school. Of course it stresses me out and of course it’s hard and sometimes I don’t want to be there, but I really enjoy what I’m learning and I love the clinical side of things. I love my teachers and all my new friends that I will be with for the next two years! They are all awesome. I am so lucky to have the support that I do. Brig get’s to be home with maddix every afternoon when i have clinic and he’s home with him all day on Wednesdays. My family is so amazing. They surprise me with dinners, they watch maddix, and my mom is always giving me something whether it’s dinner, vitamins, bread, etc. I am so blessed. It’s hard to believe that midterms are in a week. I am a 1/4 way done with my 1st year! It’s also crazy to think that I’ll be working on patients in January. It makes me so excited! As tough as school is, I know it’s the right thing. I love learning. I am so grateful that I am able to do this right now.
Maddix is growing up way too fast. It doesn't help that each day has been flying by so fast since school has started. He talks so much. His obsessions as of right now are baseball and bikes. Brig bought him a baseball tee and bat. He is so good it’s crazy! His daddy is very proud of that. He points out every single bike he see’s. He is already wanting to sit on the toilet. It’s pretty much the cutest thing ever. I put him on there and he holds onto me so tight so that he doesn't fall in! ;-) Maddix could live outside if he had the choice. He doesn't care that it’s 115 outside. He just wants to run around and be a boy! Thank goodness it’s starting to cool down. I’m sure grandma and Mimi will appreciate that :) Maddix is starting to be more cuddly, which I am 100% okay with! He has never been a cuddler. He will let me rock him and hold him before he goes to bed some nights. It’s my favorite time of the day. I could cuddle that little guy for hours.
Well this is a small update of my life right now! As crazy as it is trying to balance family and school life, I wouldn't change it for the world. It really makes me appreciate the time that I get with my family. We try to have fun while I’m not at school..and between studying ;)
P.S…I’m so excited to watch General Conference tomorrow! Tune in on LDS.org to watch the prophets and apostles speak to us. It will change your life :)

Maddix playing with Jimmer at the park

 

Maddix giving me kisses through the fence :)

Our picnic with bubbles and grapes…2 of his other very favorite things

P.S.S- my little younger brother got his mission call about a month ago! He is going to Recife, Brazil in February 2012! So excited for him!!! You’ll be an awesome missionary Nate!

where to start!!!

A few weeks ago I started Dental Hygiene school. FINALLY! I’m loving i so far. But, it is a lot of work! Especially trying to balance school work and family life. But so far, it is working out pretty well. I have made some amazing friends in my class. Which makes it even more enjoyable :) I am definitely becoming a lot more self conscious about my teeth though :) I am proud to say that I will be getting rid of all my silver fillings very soon!
My schedule is pretty nice. I am home everyday (except friday) until about 12 which is nice. So i still get plenty of maddix time :) Monday and Wednesday’s I have class until about 4 then clinic from 5-9. So those are definitely long days!! I am so grateful for all my amazing family who is helping out with maddix. I couldn't do it without them that’s for sure!

Great first day of school pic huh?

my awesome group “The Pearly Whites”

opening our instruments! love these girls.

i sure miss this little guy while I'm at school, but at least i know he’s in good hands!

my friend had the brilliant idea of taking a picture with maddix on the first week of school and on the week that i graduate to see how different we both look (I'm sure i will have gray hairs and he will be a big handsome 3 1/2 year old)

do you like maddix’s cool backpack i made him? all you need is a ritz cracker box, tin foil, and duct tape! oh the things you do to as a stay at home mom :) i love it. he loves wearing his big boy backpack to be like mommy!

maddix has recently become obsessed with our vacuum. we finally got a new one, he loves it! every morning when i get him out of his crib, the first thing he does is points to the closet where the vacuum is! So we vacuum first thing in the morning, before he eats breakfast, before he gets a diaper change, you name it.

this past weekend brig and his dad drained and power washed our pool. the sand filter needed to be changed so it was disgustingly green! as you can see behind brig. they were outside for about  hours cleaning the pool. you guys are my heroes!

TA DA!

so clean! can’t wait to go swimming tomorrow in our clean pool! not to mention the water will be nice and cool :)

maddix wanted to be outside the whole time they were working on the pool.

i love my handsome little guy

p.s. this is not how i dress my son. he did this all by himself. he’s such a little gangster! he is always putting on brigs hats and shoes.

he’s already getting to cool for pictures with mommy