All dressed up

Brig graduates this month, so I decided to take some pictures of him for his announcement. Then I realized, hey we're all dressed up for McKay's ordination (congrats to McKay on becoming an Elder!)...let's get some family pictures! We dont have any recent family pictures so I was excited.

and reagan (my awesome/gorgeous sister in law), the photographer!

.................

Maddix loves running in the sprinklers with Brig.
& he loves helping mow the lawn, we'll see how long that one lasts!

Some recent/daily quotes of Maddix:

"Watch the ball, step, and swing." (says this every time he gets ready to swing the bat)

"Hit the ball, run home base."

"Nephi good boy...No, Maddix good boy, Nephi good prophet."

"Teacher good boy" (talking about his nursery teacher)

"Go potty toilet, get treeeat."

"Oh man."

"Nice hit!"

"I see a sugar bug!"

Recently Maddix has been obsessed with washing his hands. He climbs up on a stool, and while washing his hands, he stares at himself in the mirror and does this hilarious fake laugh over and over again. Not sure why, but it's great entertainment!

M: "Dadda go?"
Me: "He's watching tv."
M: "Maddix watch tv."
Me: "It's daddy's turn to watch tv, he's been at work all day long."
M: "No Maddix turn watch tv."
Me: "You already watched tv today bud."
M: "Maddix older go to work, Maddix go to blue work, Mamma drive Maddix work."

Brig: "Maddix, who is your favorite baseball player?"
M: "This is Upton" (trying very hard to say, Justin Upton, but every time it comes out "This is")

That's all for now! I'm sure tomorrow he will come up with more :)

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!
       

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! 

right now

i’m missing him…
  today brig left for his fishing trip to alaska with his dad, brother, and cousins. he’s only been gone for about 10 hours and i’m already missing him badly. heck i was missing him before he left. i was holding up pretty good until i read my post about the awesome dad that he is. i hate being away from brig. i dont care how long  it is. brig makes our home such a fun place. and he loves me like crazy. i miss that when he’s not here! at least he didnt take maddix with him :) we’ve been having some great bonding time! cant wait to see you on sunday brig! you are definitely missed around here!
on another note, i just came across some pictures…

how did this little guy

and this little guy

 

turn into these big guys…so so fast??

life is happening so fast! i need to enjoy the days i have being home with maddix and all the sweet little things that he does each day. i love my little man to pieces!

best fathers ever

i love that i can say that i am married to my best friend. brig is such an awesome dad. every day we wait outside until brig gets home. maddix see’s his car pull up and smiles so big. they love to play ball together. brig can make maddix laugh so hard. brig works so hard to support our family. he’s always trying to make us happy and always thinking of fun things for us to do together. our personal favorite as of late is going to costco, walking around and eating samples then buying one thing. the other day brig said, “i love us, we are the only ones that would go to costco and only buy bananas”! haha. so true. we also love going to the gym together and playing racketball. brig loves his family so much. he loves taking maddix swimming in the pool. he has such a fun personality and is such a fun person to be around. he loves making jokes and making people laugh. he is so talented. he can play the piano {and the ps3 ;)}, he sings, he’s smart, he funny, he’s good at pretty much every sport he tries, he likes to bike, workout, swim, family trips to the beach, and spending time with maddix and i. he loves the gospel and loves our Savior Jesus Christ. he makes maddix and i feel so special all the time. plus he’s super handsome! we are the luckiest. thanks for all you do brig! we love you SO much! 

i am so lucky to have such an amazing dad. my dad has taught me so much. he is the most patient, loving, smart, organized, hard working, kindest man i know. he is always serving others. he never talks bad about anyone. he was such a good example of that to me because growing up he would always be the one to stop us if we started to gossip. my dad is so strong in the gospel. he has an unwavering testimony which shows in everything he does. he is truly amazing. thanks for being the best dad ever! i love you!
 
i also have an awesome father in law. he loves his family so much. he is always playing with the grandkids and making them laugh. he has a great sense of humor. he taught my husband to be the hard worker that he is today. he has a strong testimony and has a great love for our Savior. thanks for being awesome Bryan! we love you!

triathlon & mothers day

On Saturday Brig had his triathlon at Tempe Town Lake. He did SO good. Especially considering he was the only one NOT wearing a wetsuit and the only one that didnt have a fancy road bike {he used a mountain bike…there is a huge difference incase you didnt know}. Luckily he’s a fast runner so that helped! It was so fun to go out and watch him. Such a stud. Awesome job Brig!!

   

…………………………

sunday morning brig woke up with maddix and let me get some more rest. he made me waffles and then we just relaxed and enjoyed the day! i wasnt feeling super well so brig was such an awesome help to take care of maddix so i could just rest. for mothers day brig got me a lay out bed for the pool {so i dont have to lay out on the floor :)} and some of my very favorite chick flicks EVER. he is the best at gift giving. he always gets me stuff that i would never buy myself but that i would love to have. thanks so much for everything brig!! i love you! after church we went to my parents for dinner and had a little program and got a sweet gift from my mom :) then we went to his parents and had dessert and just visited. what a great day. {saturday brigs dad paid for all the girls to get pedicures for mothers day. so nice!} 

happy late mothers day to my mom!! she is so kind, loving, thoughtful, spiritual, happy, beautiful, always serving, and thinking of others, so helpful with maddix, talented, amazing voice, and so incredible in every way! we love you mom!

happy late mothers day to my mother in law! she is hilarious, fun to talk to, stylish, always willing to help with maddix, kind, fun to be around, smart, dedicated, always serving, loves her family, and just plain awesome! we love you gaylene!

i just love moms. arent they just the best thing ever?? and im so happy to be a mom. i wouldnt change it for the world. i never understood how much a parent could love a child until i had my own. being a mom equals pure happiness. it is so hard sometimes, but that just makes it more worth it. i have learned so much as a mom. i love that maddix can now say mama and wants to be around me, and loves when i sing and read books to him. i love that he brings  us the ensign so that we can flip through the pages and point to pictures of Jesus with him.  I love that he can now recognize when he sees pictures of us or of Jesus. I love that he wants to feed himself and wants to do what we do. I love that i’m learning patience and forgiveness and just really how innocent children how. I love that i get to be the one to get maddix out of bed every morning and have him greet me with a big smile or with his arms reaching for me to hold him. I love how he picks up his “silky blanky”, pulls at my leg, then walks over to the rocking chair so i can just hold him and cuddle with him. I could go on and on…

 

motherhood is such a special role that we as women have. i am so grateful for the opportunity to be a mom and to raise my precious boy. i am so grateful for my Savior that gives me the strength and guidance everyday to be the mom he wants me to be. i am not perfect, but i sure am trying to be a better mom everyday! luckily i have such awesome examples to follow.

i hope everyone had a wonderful mothers day :)