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 :)

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!

our life

i always blog about little everyday moments, but i realized i haven't really blogged about what we’re actually doing with our lives :)
brig is still working at University of Phoenix as an enrollment counselor. he is loving it and totally rocks at it! he enjoys going to the gym everyday during his lunch to keep up his nice body for his wife, which I'm totally okay with ;-) he is still working on his bachelors in business management right now and will be done in August 2012. he has been thinking of some different careers that he might be interested in, but still trying to decide. brig is the membership clerk in our ward. he recently got home from his Alaska trip where he brought home 80 lbs of fish!!!! don’t worry, we already sold it all in less than a week. crazy.
as for me, i am very fortunate to be at home with maddix everyday. however, i do start dental hygiene school in 3 weeks which will definitely change that schedule just a little ;-) i usually spend my days going to the gym, running errands, cuddling maddix, feeding maddix, cleaning, eating, spending money (one of the many reasons I'm excited to start school!) and doing other mom stuff! i am a beehive advisor in our ward which i love.
maddix will be 18 months next week. holy cow. NURSERY TIME!!! WOOO HOOOO! I've already been taking him in there for the past month a little at a time to get him used to it and last week he actually stayed the whole time by himself! i am so excited for this :) he is such a hilarious kid. he is always trying to say new words. he loves to copy us. his most famous words that we here multiple times a day are bi (bike), ball, dada, momma, ma (not quite sure what this means yet, he says this when he points to everything), tst (toast), ps (grapes) oats, baba (sippy cup), baby, hi, bye bye. he still loves to be outside, which i refuse to do obviously (unless we’re swimming). he loves to dance. in my opinion he has the best little boy smile ever. he has 12 teeth (finally his last molar came through! hallelujah)

we are loving our neighborhood, ward, friends, jobs, house, maddix, each other, and everything else that we have in our life :) we are so grateful for our knowledge of the gospel and that we are sealed for eternity. we love spending family time together. playing racquetball, swimming, playing the piano, dancing, eating talking, grocery shopping, etc. brig was just saying how nice it is to have every night together to just relax and hang out together. i told him we better enjoy it now because it definitely won’t stay like that for long! well, hope you enjoyed my update :)our attempt at a family picture, not too bad?

cali

this summer we got to on two different vacations to the beach. in june we camped on the beach in carlsbad with the weights and in july my dad got a beach house for our whole family to stay in. both trips were so much fun! maddix couldnt get enough of the sand and ocean!

CARLSBAD

  

first time in the ocean

                   sand mustaches!

                brig playing home run derby

padres game

and….maddix sneaking out of the tent!

IMPERIAL BEACH

 

                             out on the pier

sister love

playing some football with trevin

 

grandpa d and maddix

beach house in the background

A big thanks to my father in law and my dad for the fun vacations!!! 

family fun

yesterday was good. oh besides brig getting a flat tire on his bike ride :/. but the rest of the day was good :) we had a busy day up until about 3:00. we decided to go to costco to walk around, eat samples, and buy a few groceries. they have the best samples! after costco we decided to go walk around the mall. since we didnt want to spend any money we went into stores and told each other what we would buy if the price didnt matter. it was fun to dream! after the mall we hung out at home and started making dinner. brig grilled steak (we normally dont buy steak, but there was a deal for buy 1 get 2 free so basically we bought $75 worth of steak for $23. and it will last us several meals. we were excited), i made mashed potatoes and gravy and cooked up some squash and zucchini from my parents garden. it was all soooo good! we decided that was way better than going out. brig gave maddix a bath while i cleaned up the kitchen, we played a little longer, put maddix to bed, bathed jimmer, got in our comfy’s, and started watching “Saving Private Ryan” (edited tv version). it was a super good movie but we were both exhausted and fell asleep after 1/2 hour which was 8:30pm! we are old.

what we do

we’ve been doing lots of this lately

sunglasses, outside time, water, swimsuits, walks, jimmer time, family time, baseball, books, enjoying my free time before school starts, watermelon, costco ice cream bars {yummmmmmmmmmmm}, piano playing, and some more family time.

there is nothing better than the sound of hymns being played on the piano in my very own house. i love it. especially when its coming from my husband. we are loving the piano as you can tell. i love being able to just sit down and play. i missed it so much.  oh, and instead of having dance parties to youtube, we now have dance parties to our very own piano music :)

…………….

speaking of school starting. i am SO excited/nervous. i am trying to soak up every minute i have with maddix and brig though because i know it will definitely be limited in a few months! 56 days {8 weeks} from today i will heading off to dh school in my brand new scrubs :) can’t wait to live in those for 2 years. seriously though.

speaking of family…please watch this. i love President Monson. he is an incredible man and most definitely a prophet of God.